Am I Dreaming?
by rika195
Summary: Tai has a startling dream, and wakes up to find the very people he's been dreaming about right in front of him. So he tells them about it, and discovers the same thing happened in his dream. What the heck is going on here?
1. Startling Dream

This story is dedicated to Tasha, my beloved sister. (aka Tshk from fanfiction, For she is the one who came up with this awesome idea, and allowed me to be the one to write it down. For in truth, it half or more than half belongs to her.

Note: rated T for the mentioning of something slightly disturbing and gross. But it was just a dream, so don't worry. It's not real. Please, enjoy this story. And if you haven't seen Brave Heart, you should see it. And now for the most awesome story you will ever read in your entire life….

Disclaimer: I do not own digimon, nor the characters portrayed. I do not own Brave Heart. I do not own Groundhog Day. And I have no control over what people dream. There, I said it. Now onto the story…

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Tai stared in horror at the sight before him, his mouth slightly open. His stomach threatened to deposit his lunch on the ground before him, but he tried desperately to keep it in. He just couldn't believe this was happening.

"No…Izzy…" he whispered his friend's name painfully, and then covered his eyes. "This can't be happening…" But he couldn't deny it. It was happening right in front of him, and there was nothing he could do about it. How could Mimi do something like this…….

Tai jerked upright, gasped loudly, and then slipped off of the couch. He was breathing hard, as if he had been running for miles, but in fact he had sleeping on the living room couch for the last half an hour. For a minute he sat on the floor in a state of panic, but then it seemed to dawn on him that what he had just seen was not actually real life, but in fact just a dream. He slowly calmed down.

"Sheesh Tai," Izzy's voice interrupted Tai's befuddled thoughts. "What was that all about?"

"Oh man…Izzy!" Tai pulled himself up from the floor and seated himself on the couch. He pushed some of his dark brown hair out of his face. "I just had this horrible dream about you!" he shivered uncontrollably. He was still trying to convince himself that he was at his own house, and that it hadn't happened.

"Oh?" Izzy asked? The red-head was sitting on a chair next to the couch, his computer on his lap. He stared at Tai evenly, a look of slight annoyance on his face. "And here all this time I thought you were actually listening to what I was saying."

Tai grinned apologetically. "Well, I was…but I guess I fell asleep. It was weird. I didn't even know I fell asleep!" He glanced at the clock. It was half an hour that he had been sleeping. What was Izzy talking about again? Oh right. Izzy had called him only a little while ago, and told him that he had important news to discuss with him. And Tai had invited him over. No sooner had Izzy arrived at the Kamiya house, he started talking. Tai had tried to listen, but apparently….the couch was too comfortable. He sighed. "Sorry about that."

Izzy gave a small huff, and then leaned back against his chair. "Well, let's hear it."

Tai blinked. "Hear what?"

"Your dream."

"My dream? Why? I thought you had news to tell me!"

Izzy rolled his eyes. "And I thought you were listening. But no matter. Just tell me your dream, and maybe you listen the next time."

Tai leaned back against the couch and placed his hands behind his head. "Well, it was weird," he began, remembering his dream a bit unwillingly. "In my dream, you got degutted and…"

"Degutted?" Izzy interrupted. He gave Tai and questioning look. "Do you even know what 'degutted' means?"

"Yes," Tai snapped, remembering the vivid picture of it in his dream.

"It's the opposite of ripping someone's guts out…"

"Yeah…." Tai stopped mid-sentance. Wait...the opposite?

"Didn't you mean 'gutted?' Or even 'disembowled?'…"

"YES, FINE! WHATEVER!" Tai yelled. Izzy stopped talking, and then shrugged. "Look, I know what it means, I just got the wrong word. So PLEASE don't explain it to me. That is SO gross."

"Hey, you dreamt it."

After a brief glare in Izzy's direction, Tai continued. "Anyway, in my dream, I was watching helplessly as you got gutted, and I couldn't do anything about it! And the worst part was…"

"That's gross, Tai," Izzy cut in, suddenly realizing what Tai was saying. "I can't believe you dreamt that!" He paused. "You really dreamt that?"

"Yes, I did," Tai complained. He was sick of all the interrupting. He was about to say something else, but suddenly noticed how incredibly worried Izzy was looking. "What's wrong?" Tai asked. "You look worried."

"Well, you had a dream that I got gutted!" Izzy said in a small voice. "That's kind of scary!"

"Who knows, maybe it will come true," Matt said, suddenly walking up. Tai turned to look at him in surprise, and then wondered what the heck he was doing there.

"What are you doing here?" Tai asked.

Matt did not look impressed. "Izzy called. He said he had some important news, and you were supposed to be awake to hear it." He sat down on the couch. "So you had a dream that Izzy got gutted?"

"Yeah," Izzy answered. "Do you think it will really come true?"

Tai was about to laugh and say "of course not," but he never got the chance. Matt turned to him expectantly. "So," Matt said. "Who did it?"

"Who did it?" Tai asked, stupidly repeating the question. "Who did what?"

"Who gutted him?"

Tai frowned, and crossed his arms. Either they were making fun of him, or teasing him, and he was getting sick of it. Oh well, he'd play along. "Actually," he said, "Mimi did it."

Both Izzy and Matt raised their eyebrows in surprise. "Mimi?" Izzy squeaked. He looked like he was about to laugh.

"I can't picture Mimi touching guts, let alone killing anyone!" Matt said with a slight smile. Anyone could tell he found that amusing. "How could you dream that about her?"

"About who?" All eyes turned to see who had spoken, and found it to be Mimi herself. She smiled at them, and seated herself beside Matt on the couch. Anyone could tell she was curious to discover what everyone was talking about.

"Tai had a dream that you gutted me," Izzy said matter-of-factly. He turned his attention back to his computer, and started typing.

"He what?" Mimi turned to stare at Tai with mock horror. "That's so gross! How could you?"

Tai groaned and slid down from the couch onto the floor. "I don't want to talk about it anymore," he mumbled. He was getting annoyed. "Izzy, you had something to tell us?" He didn't even bother to ask what Mimi was doing there.

Izzy nodded, and turned to the other two. "As I was telling Tai here before he fell asleep and had that gross dream…"

Tai mumbled under his breath. It wasn't his fault he had fallen asleep. It wasn't his fault he'd dreamt that. In fact, he wished he HADN'T dreamt it! It was gross, and disturbing, and not to mention it was now a new tool by which Matt could tease him. Oh yes, this was going to be fun, wasn't it?

And then, with a start, he found himself hitting the floor with his face.

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Short chapter, and sort of gross, but yeah. Blame it on the laundry that I had to wait for at 2:00 in the morning so I could fold it. This chapter was lame, but by the next chapter, I am sure you will understand what is going on.

Are you ready for the most confusing mystery of all time? If you are, leave me a review, put this story on alerts, and then read the next chapter! I guarantee that you wont be disappointed!

rika195


	2. Dream Come True

Am I Dreaming? (I dunno, are you? lol...)

Chapter 2

Disclaimer on the first chapter.

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This story is dedicated to my younger sister, who is also my best friend. And also to everyone who reads it and reviews!

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Tai was lying on his face, on the floor. He blinked in surprise, and wondered how the heck he had gotten there. Wasn't he sitting up only moments ago? Did something happen? He pulled himself to his feet, and turned to see what Matt was going to say about that incredibly clumsy act. He started in surprise. Matt and Mimi were not on the couch. "What's going on here?" he mumbled, forcing himself to stand up. He felt so tired….

"You were sleeping? It figures. I knew you weren't listening to me."

Tai turned around, completely confused. Izzy was sitting on the chair, his laptop in his lap. The red-head was staring at Tai with a slightly annoyed expression, but he didn't seem too bothered by Tai snoozing when he was supposed to be listening. It was almost as if he expected Tai to fall asleep on him.

"Izzy," Tai said his friend's name slowly. He was so confused. "What just happened?"

"You fell off the couch," Izzy stated matter-of-factly. "How's your nose?"

Tai absent-mindedly rubbed his nose. "Fine but…" he frowned in thought. Then…everything that just happened was….a dream? "But where are Matt and Mimi?"

Izzy raised his eyebrows, surprised. "Really, Tai, I'm surprised! I never told you they were coming. I thought you were sleeping! I guess you were half-listening anyway."

"No, I mean, weren't they just here?" Tai insisted. He was beginning to get worried. That whole conversation…it had seemed to real to him! Could it really have been a dream?

"No, they weren't. Is something wrong?" Izzy closed his laptop and set it on the floor beside him, and now looked at Tai with a worried expression.

Tai shook his head. "Man, that is so weird. I guess it was a dream."

"What was a dream? Tell me about it."

Tai sighed and seated himself on the couch. "Well," he said, shoving some of his thick dark hair out of his face. It simply fell back to cover his eyes again, but he kept trying anyway. Maybe his mom was right….maybe he DID need a haircut… "It started like this: I had a dream about you, that you got gutted, and…"

"Gutted?" Izzy asked, surprised. "You had a dream that I got gutted?" He looked disgusted. "Tai…do you even know what 'gutted' means?"

Tai blinked. Somehow, something was telling him that this seemed incredibly familiar. Oh well. "Oh course I know what it means," he stated, annoyed.

"It's when you rip someone's guts out with a knife," Izzy explained, just to make sure.

"Yes I know," Tai glared at him to shut up.

"And then you leave them to die a slow and painful death…"

"Izzy, shut up! I said I know!" Tai rubbed his head. He was beginning to get a headache. "Anyway, so there I was, watching you get gutted, and I couldn't do anything about it! So the next thing I know, I'm…"

"Wait…Tai, you actually dreamt that happened to me?" Izzy looked completely disgusted, and was hugging his stomach. "That thought hurts worse than eating your mom's cooking! That's gross!"

Tai stared at him dully. "I thought you liked my mom's cooking."

"I'm just being polite."

Tai rolled his eyes. It was no secret that his mom didn't know how to cook. Even HE knew how to cook better than her, thanks to the few cooking lessons Matt had given him. "Anyway," he said loudly, trying to continue with his dream. "I dreamt that I woke up and told you about it, and we pretty much had the same conversation we are having right now."

Izzy stared at him with a 'weirded-out' expression. "You did huh?" he asked. He thought about this for a minute, and then suddenly got scared. "Wait, you had a dream, and now it is coming true?" his face paled visibly at this thought.

Just then, Matt walked into the living room. "Well, who knows? Maybe it will come true," he said in a mock scary voice.

Tai turned to stare at him, nearly jumping off of the couch. "This is really seeming like déjà vu," he said, more to himself than either of his two friends. "It's like, exactly what happened in my dream."

"Well, maybe if you hadn't fallen asleep when Izzy was telling you important news, it might not have happened." Matt threw himself on the couch next to Tai and placed his hands behind his head. "So." He took a deep breath. "You had a dream that Izzy got gutted. That's gross."

"Tell me about it," Izzy shivered. "I mean, I don't even want to think about that! Do you know how painful that is, to experience that? I estimate…"

Matt cut him off before he could get too technical. "So Izzy get's gutted. Who's the one to do it, Tai?" he grinned mischievously.

"Mimi," Tai answered blandly, trying to ignore the fact that this was playing out exactly like his dream.

"MIMI?" both Matt and Izzy yelled. They stared at him with mixed expressions.

"Are you serious?" Izzy squeaked. He looked like he was trying to laugh.

"You're kidding," Matt chuckled. He actually did laugh. "I can't picture Mimi touching guts, let alone killing anyone! How could you have dreamt that about her? That is so awful Tai!" He shook his head disapprovingly.

"What did he do that is so awful?" Mimi exclaimed, just coming in the door. She leapt onto the couch beside Tai, giving him a gossip-greedy look. It was clear she wanted to know exactly what was going on. Tai simply watched as everyone decided to do the answering for him.

"Tai had a dream you gutted me!" Izzy exclaimed. He shivered slightly. Then he grabbed his computer, opened it up, and started typing. It was clear he didn't want to think too hard about it.

"He what?" Mimi gawked. She turned to Tai with a horrified expression. "Tai how could you? I can't believe you'd dream something so disgusting about me! Besides, I wouldn't want to soil my beautiful hands." She smiled down at her new manicure, much to Tai's disgust.

"Yeah, and now it's really going to happen," Matt said sneakily.

"Says who? Why would I want to gut Izzy?" Mimi made a face at that thought.

"Cause Tai also dreamt that we had this whole conversation. You know what that means…" Matt grinned at Tai with a teasing grin. "It means it was a vision, not a dream!" He turned to Izzy and shook his head sadly. "Looks like Mimi's going to gut you Izzy."

"Shut up," Izzy mumbled. He cleared his throat. "I want to talk about something else. Since the others are taking so long to get here, let's just start now." He turned his computer to face the three on the couch. "Now, as I was saying before Tai fell asleep…"

"And had a frightening vision," Matt couldn't help snickering.

Izzy did not look amused. "As I was saying, something strange has happened. Something that I think we, as the digidestined, need to be aware of."

This now had everyone's attention, even Tai's. He wondered vaguely to himself how he could have fallen asleep, when something important was being brought up. And even more so, why the dream he'd just had, had just been played out right in front of him. This was so weird. What was he supposed to make of all of this? Well, perhaps there was no explanation. It had simply happened.

Tai blinked, and stared at Izzy. He was typing at his computer, a bored expression on his face. The red-head didn't say anything else for a long time. Tai frowned. "Well come on," Tai prodded. "What's this important information that we have to know?"

Izzy looked up, his eyebrows raised. And then he gave a small huff. "So you're finally awake," he complained. He closed his laptop and set it on the floor beside him. "Really, Tai. I'm not THAT boring!"

Tai frowned, horrified, and then turned to look at Matt and Mimi.

They were gone.

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Oh ho! So the plot thickens! What is going on here? Will Tai ever know? Does he have that…er…what's that mental problem called where you fall asleep and don't know it?

I'm not telling! Nyah! You'll never know. Only Tasha knows….and actually, she doesn't even know what I'm going to do. Hehe. Oh well. Let's see How this all turns out.

Review?


	3. Not Again

**Am I Dreaming? --------Chapter 3**

Disclaimer on the first chapter---I'm too lazy to put another one up.

**Evide**: Weird huh? Well, I am flattered that you read my story, and even more so that you reviewed it! This story has no Kouichi in it. But don't worry. I have to make the stories that do have him just perfect so I can make you go crazy. Lol. Have fun waiting! I hope this can wet your appetite!

**Tshk**: I am glad you are finally reading and reviewing at least one of my stories besides If Wishes Were Fishes. Lol. Just kidding. Thanks for the corrections! I already fixed them.

**Vigatus**: Hey thanks for that really vital information. Now I feel like an idiot, but thanks to you I went back and edited it. It is fixed now. I hope the story is worth reading for you now! You rock!

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The clock on the wall over the TV ticked and tocked loudly, and was the only sound in the entire room. But that wasn't going to last for long. Tai forced himself to look back at Izzy, and couldn't help feeling a shivering sense of horror that once again, he found himself waking up and missing everything Izzy just said.

"Well, no matter," Izzy said, closing his computer and setting it on the floor. "I'll just say it again when the others get here. Just don't fall asleep on me a second time, okay?"

"You mean other people are coming here besides Matt and Mimi?" Tai asked. He was still chiding himself for falling asleep while Izzy was talking, and then waking up to find that he had missed everything, and both Matt and Mimi had left.

"No…" Izzy stared at him strangely. "Matt and Mimi are the ones coming. But I thought you were asleep. How would you know they were coming?"

"They were just here," Tai insisted. Now he was standing up, pointing to the couch. "Matt sat here, and Mimi sat here, and you all were teasing me about my dream!"

"I think you must have been dreaming," Izzy said matter-of-factly. He shook his head at his bushy-haired friend.

"But I wasn't dreaming! It was real!"

"I'm sure it was, Tai." Izzy now picked up his computer again.

"No, Izzy!" Tai said loudly, getting desperate. "I know it happened. I had a dream about you, and then I told you about it when I woke up! Then you and Matt and Mimi all began teasing me about it, and then I woke up." He stopped, and frowned. "And then I told you about it, and Matt and Mimi came and started teasing me about it…and…and…" he stared at Izzy helplessly. "And we had the exact same conversation that I had just dreamt!" He seated himself on the couch and held his head. "Izzy, I have a headache."

"Sound's like an annoying dream," Izzy agreed. "But it was just a dream, nothing more. Now don't fall asleep on me again."

Tai nodded vaguely. "It all comes from watching Brave Heart last night," he mumbled. "If I hadn't watched that movie, I wouldn't have dreamt that you got degutted."

"Do you even know what 'degutted' means?" Izzy asked sarcastically. "It's…"

"I KNOW, I KNOW!" Tai glared at him. "I meant 'gutted' okay?"

Izzy stared at him silently, observing him. Finally, he cocked his head to the side and crossed his arms. "Interesting," he said, sounding as if he were fascinated. "Are you saying you dreamt that I, like William Wallace, got gutted with a knife? I understand how after watching that movie, you could have a gruesome dream but….why me? Why couldn't you have dreamt that about someone else?"

"As if I am able to control my dreams," Tai rolled his eyes sarcastically. "I'm sorry I dreamt you got your guts ripped out with a knife. Next time I'll watch a more mild movie, like Barbie or something."

"Tai, you don't need to get mad at me, I am just asking a simple question." Izzy sighed, glancing down at his computer absent-mindedly. Tai had always been a pushy kind of person, but Izzy had always been used to it.

Tai gave up arguing. The last thing he wanted was to get into the same conversation he had just had twice. "Well, anyway…where did Matt and Mimi go?"

"They didn't go anywhere. They're not here yet."

Tai looked up, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "Listen Izzy," he warned. "I am not going to believe you if you say that everything that just happened was a dream."

"Well I don't know what else it could be, since I have no idea what you're talking about," Izzy replied, slightly sarcastically. He sighed and leaned back against his chair. Then he sat forward with a perplexed expression on his face. "So you had a dream that I got gutted?" he asked, almost faintly. Tai said nothing. "You mean, you had a dream where someone ripped my guts out with a knife…"

Tai's eyes narrowed further.

"…And then left me to die a slow and painful death?" When Tai still refused to say anything, Izzy leaned forward and stared at the other youth intensely. "Did I say 'mercy?'"

Tai turned to glare at him. "I am NOT having this conversation for the third time," he declared. Then he crossed his arms and stared at the door. "Next thing you know, Matt's gonna come in saying that maybe my dream will come true!" he rolled his eyes angrily. "This is stupid. You guys as messing with me, aren't you?"

Izzy was staring at Tai with complete interest, clearly fascinated. "This must have been some dream," he said enthusiastically. He was clearly enjoying Tai's distress. "And you're convinced it was real life!"

Tai opened his mouth to speak, and then turned his head in surprise when the front door shut loudly. Matt was standing there, looking slightly annoyed, but curious as to why Tai was so upset. "Who knows?" he said, only just having heard Izzy's last remarks. "Maybe that means it will come true!"

Tai grabbed his head and groaned loudly, wishing he could punch Matt in the face. He almost did. Instead, he refrained, and tried to keep to himself in hopes that perhaps everyone would stop playing around and tell him what was going on. Unfortunately, that didn't happen.

"So…what are you guys talking about anyway?" Matt asked, coming to sit in the same spot on the couch that he had sat both times before. He placed his hands behind his head with a sigh.

"Tai had a dream that I was gutted," Izzy began to explain. He never got any further.

"Are you serious? That's gross!" Matt turned back to Tai to punch him in the shoulder. "Someone must be mad at Izzy, eh? Come on Tai, tell us. Who did it to him? Was it you?" he grinned playfully, as if this was all a joke.

"No, it wasn't," Tai growled. "I am not having this conversation."

"Come on Tai? What's wrong with you? We're not offending you are we?" Matt chuckled, and then suddenly noticed that Tai really was angry. "Come on, seriously. Why are you so upset?" His tone was genuine, but it was obvious that Tai didn't think so.

Taking a deep breath, Izzy tried to explain. "Tai's mad because after he dreamt I got gutted, he woke up and told us about it. But then he woke up again, and found that it had been a dream. So he told us about it…but…" he suddenly got a strange look on his face, as if the weirdness of the whole situation had suddenly been made clear to him. "..But that was a dream too because he just woke up. And now he's telling us about it."

"So Tai's had a re-occurring dream? That's cool. I've had dreams like that too. I don't understand why you're so upset Tai. It happens to everyone." Matt patted Tai on the shoulder.

"Well, apparently, the same conversation we're having now was in his dream. Right?" Izzy looked at Tai for confirmation.

"Almost," Tai mumbled. Already he was beginning to cool down. He pulled his hands away from his face and tried to move his unruly hair out of his eyes as well. He felt better knowing that Izzy was being more understanding now. "Not exactly. This conversation is more…" he searched for the right word. "…real. I guess I really was dreaming." Now satisfied, he too placed his hands behind his head. "Oh well."

For a minute no one said anything. Then Matt broke the silence. "So who did it?" he asked, insisting on knowing the answer. "Was it you?"

Tai smirked and shook his head. "No way!" He paused, and suddenly felt awkward. What if…what he told them it was Mimi? Would the same thing happen that had happened in his dream? There was only one way of finding out… "Actually, Mimi was the one who did it," he said. It was the truth, after all.

"MIMI?" Both Matt and Izzy screeched out her name at the same time, looking shocked. Then Matt burst into laughter.

"Are you serious?" Izzy asked. For a second he thought Tai was just playing around. Then he seemed to believe it. Except, he found that highly unlikely.

"Tai, you're joking, aren't you? Can you picture Mimi doing that?" Matt laughed even louder. "I can't picture Mimi _touching _guts, let alone killing anyone!" he kept laughing, not even noticing Tai's face going pale. "That's awful! How could you have dreamt that about her?"

"About who?" a girl's voice asked, just as the front door opened and closed a second time. "What did he do that was so awful?" The three boys turned to look, and Mimi stood there, looking extremely curious. She walked over and placed herself in the exact same place she had sat in Tai's dream, and then turned to Tai expectantly. She wanted in on the gossip, and she would get her way whether anyone liked it or not.

Tai couldn't even speak. Fortunately, he didn't have to. "Tai had a dream that you gutted me," Izzy said, looking slightly bewildered. Something in his face said he was more worried about Tai's dream than he would let on.

"He what?" Mimi exclaimed. She turned to stare at Tai with a shocked expression. Then she crossed her arms. "Yes, that _is _awful Tai. How could you dream something like that about me? How could you even SEE me doing something so gross?" She glanced down at her hands lovingly. "Besides, I just got a new manicure. There's no way I'd even get close to doing something like that."

Tai tried not to feel sick to his stomach. This conversation was too much like the one he's just had in his dream.

"Yeah," Matt agreed. He chuckled. "But you know what? Now it's going to happen. It's going to come true."

"Says who? Why would I want to gut Izzy?" Mimi still looked disgusted.

"Because Tai also dreamt that we already had this whole conversation." Matt gave Tai a sneaky grin. "That means, Tai, that what you had was NOT dream, but a vision!" And then he turned to Izzy with an expression of mock graveness. "Looks like Mimi's going to be gutting you someday, Izzy."

"Shut up," Izzy declared. He was looking really uneasy, as he watched Tai's face carefully. "Tai, can I ask you a question?" Tai nodded. "Is this conversation we've just had the same one that happened in your dream?"

Tai nodded again, and this time, Matt and Mimi were just as curious. "Are you serious?" Mimi asked. She stared at him with a slightly open mouth. "That's pretty creepy if you think about it…"

"Yes, it is," Tai grumbled. But he was determined to put it all behind him. He was awake this time, and he wouldn't have to live through it again. "Now I just want to pretend like none of this happened, okay?" he insisted. "Izzy, you called us all here to tell us that you've discovered something you think we digidestined should be aware of. Well, we're waiting."

Izzy raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Well, either you actually did hear me some the first time, or I said that in your dream." He clicked away on his computer, and then turned it to face the three on the couch. "It's just as Tai said." He stared at them all gravely. "There are more digidestined besides us."

For a moment, everyone waited for Izzy to explain. Only, he didn't. Mimi crossed her arms. "We already knew that," she complained. There are digidestined all over the world! You've already told us this before."

"Well, these digidestined are…different. You remember that strange power outage at the Shibuya Train Station, that was on the news?" Izzy asked. Everyone nodded. "Well, now I have the full story that explains exactly what happened. I think you guys will be just as amazed as I am." He glanced at Tai expectantly. "Do you remember anything else I said before you fell asleep?"

Tai shook his head…and then nodded. "Oh yeah," he said vaguely. "You said that these digidestined didn't have digimon partners. You said they…" he frowned in thought. "I don't remember. I think that's when I fell asleep." He rubbed his face, trying to think some more, and then looked up. "So what about these digidestined? Why didn't they have partners, and how can they be digidestined without them?"

Izzy looked up from typing on his computer, his eyebrows arched clear up to the sky. "Well," he said, and a look of pure annoyance crossed his face. "I'm glad you heard something I said before you fell asleep."

Tai groaned. "Yeah, I know, I'm sorry. But don't keep us waiting!" He glanced next to him to see what Matt was thinking, and jumped out of the couch screaming. "WHERE'S MATT?" he screamed.

Izzy stared at him, alarmed. "Tai?" he asked, completely confused. "Calm down! What's wrong?"

"Where's Matt?" Tai demanded. He looked to where Mimi was supposed to be sitting. "And where's Mimi?"

Izzy lowered one eyebrow, giving Tai a scrutinizing look. "They're not here yet," he said calmly.

Tai stared at his friend, clenching and unclenching his fists, all the while sweating a cold and uncomfortable sweat. Finally, he opened his mouth to speak. "Izzy," he whispered. "Please tell me that everything that just happened was not a dream."

Izzy was continuing to give Tai a lost look. "Tai…" he said simply. "I think you must have been dreaming."

Tai glared at him, started grinding his teeth, and then ran out of the room screaming.

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Ah, Tai. I'm sorry for you.

OKAY! I know how many people read this. I see how many hits this story gets. For a story that gets over 160 hits but only has 3 reviews, I feel very sad! Very sad indeed! WHAT IS KEEPING YOU FROM REVIEWING?

Seriously. What is keeping you from reviewing? Even a one word review is nice. Even a flame is nice. I am just shocked at how many people will read a story and not take the time to tell the author whether they liked it or not. I LIKE hearing where I can improve. I LIKE hearing about which parts of my story sucks, and why!

So please, out of the kindness of your heart….actually review this story if you have gotten this far in reading it.

Thank you, and God bless you!

rika195


	4. This Time, A Plan

**Am I Dreaming? ---Chapter 4**

Disclaimer on the first chapter because I am still lazy.

**DrumminTater**: Yeah, poor Tai. I'm so mean. I am glad you remember Groundhog Day, because the idea of this story is a lot like it. Well, thanks for reviewing! I really appreciate it!

**Evide**: Yay! Now that review was much better than your last one! Hehe, sorry, I'm just teasing you. I have news for you. This is a 02/04 crossover. So Kouichi MIGHT be in it. Interested?

**Sapphire Dragoness**: Thanks! I hope to keep you in confusion for at least a little while longer! It is a mystery, kind of. But it's also supposed to be fun. I hope you keep reading! Thanks for the review!

**Someone**: WOW! Someone reviewed! Hehe. That rocks. Dude, thanks for reviewing. Keep doing it. And I'm glad you find it interesting!

**sushimonster724**: Thank you! I wanted it to be funny. But my humor is kind of subtle, no puns or anything. I can't ever succeed with those. I hope you keep reading! And I hope it's to your satisfaction.

**Berri**: Yay! I love your reviews! They always make me happy! I wonder the same thing. Maybe it never will be. Hehe. And wow, I just have to say….you are very perceptive. You are correct in your prediction. But I wont tell you when it happens. Hehe! That's when the story takes on and even more complicated twist. I hope you keep reading!

**Vigatus**: Ah, here's a review well worth reading. Your reviews always make my day, you know that? I hope that you like this crossover. It is more about 02 than 04. But I am also sad you didn't like the frontier characters. Oh well. Maybe if I had seen digimon from season one to season four, I might think the same. But I saw frontier first, and the others after. Heh. Well, I hope you still like it! And thanks so much!

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"Tai? Tai speak to me. Tai, quit ignoring me. Tai!"

Tai continued to hold his hands over his ears, lying face down on his bed on his room. But Izzy was persistent, and continued to shake him by the shoulders and shout at him. "Go away!" he finally yelled into his mattress. "I don't want to talk to you!"

Izzy stopped shaking him, and stepped back. For a long moment there was silence, but eventually Izzy let out his breath in a long sigh. "I don't understand you Tai," he complained. He sounded hurt. "I came over here to talk to you instead of having you come to my house, and you fall asleep on me. Then when you wake up, instead of apologizing, you start screaming at me and accusing me of things I haven't done!"

Tai sat up quickly. "That's not true!" he argued. "I…"

"Whatever, Tai." Izzy held up his hands in defeat and stepped back. "I don't want to argue with you." Izzy's mouth formed a thin line, as he held in probably a sharp retort, and instead he simply walked out of the room…leaving Tai feeling guilty.

After a minute, Tai's conscience got the better of him, and he hoisted himself off his mattress to follow Izzy back to the living room. "Izzy…" he mumbled. His friend was sitting on the chair by the couch, typing away at his computer. Izzy didn't answer him. "Izzy I…I'm sorry." The red-headed youth still refused to answer.

Dejected, Tai seated himself back on the couch, letting out a large groan-like sigh. How was he supposed to explain this? It was obvious that Izzy really didn't know what was going on, because he wasn't very good at acting. So what did this mean? Did it mean that Tai really was dreaming? Was he dreaming even now? He pinched himself hard, yelped, and then rubbed his arm where it hurt. "Yep," he said weakly. "I'm awake."

But this didn't make sense. What exactly was going on here? He didn't know how to solve this problem. And probably, the only one who could was…

"Izzy...I need your help." Tai stared at his friend urgently, but he still refused to respond. It hurt, especially because Tai _knew _that he was not in the wrong. Was he? "Something's happening to me. I keep re-living the same 25 minutes or so over and over again, and every time I wake up to find that it's a dream. This shouldn't be happening, but I'm the only one who's affected! You and Matt and Mimi all think that I'm dreaming every time that it's happened!" He frowned and rubbed his aching head. "Just thinking about it is giving me a headache! It's like someone is doing this to me on purpose!"

The only sound in response was the clicking of the keys on the keyboard of Izzy's computer, but they slowed somewhat—a sure sign that Izzy was listening and thinking about what Tai had said. So there was hope.

"But I know that even now, the same conversation is going to happen when Matt and Mimi come! It's like someone is trying to keep me from hearing what you have to say!" Tai stopped talking. "Wait, that's it! Izzy, you keep telling me that there's something we need to be aware of, but every time I get close to hearing you tell me what it is, I wake up and find myself where you just found me…waking up!" He frowned in thought. "It's all planned, isn't it?" He looked around, but was not getting an answer. So he signed and leaned back against the couch. "I've got to find some way of making myself NOT go back in time."

"Tai…" Izzy finally said, turning to his friend with a doubtful expression. "As much as I know that you firmly believe this, I KNOW that you were asleep."

"Next thing you know, I'll be waking up again and this whole conversation will be forgotten!" Tai countered. "Izzy, you've got to help me!"

"I think you're imagining things." Izzy kept his gaze at the screen. "There's no way to know if what you're saying is true."

Tai suddenly grinned. "But you want to believe me, don't you?" Izzy hesitated. "Don't you?" Tai smirked and placed his hands behind his head. "I'll give you proof," Tai said confidently. "We'll have a conversation. And it will go exactly as it has in my dream. You type everything we say down on your computer. And then save it. Then if I wake up again, I'll tell you to look it up, and when you find it, you'll know it's true!"

"I seriously doubt that will work," Izzy commented, raising an eyebrow. "And if you've only got 25 minutes, you're running out of time."

"Right. But you're a computer genius! That means you have options. You'll have to save the file somewhere on your computer so that it is dated BEFORE I fell asleep to begin with! Okay?"

Izzy made to argue, and then gave up. He nodded slowly, and received a giant hug from Tai in return. "Calm down, it was probably just your dream anyway," Izzy complained. Though he did seem less upset with Tai now. "How did the conversation go?"

"Well, I had a dream that you got gutted, and…"

"Tai, do you even know what gutted means?" Izzy gave Tai a motherly look. "Look up words before you use them."

Tai smirked to himself. Ah yes….all was going as planned. "Yes, I know what it means," Tai answered. He rolled his eyes. "I'd BETTER know after all the times you keep telling me!"

"It's when you rip someone's guts out with a knife," Izzy explained, just to make sure. "And then leave them to die a slow and painful death."

"So I've heard." Tai groaned in slight annoyance. This conversation was really getting redundant.

"Well, okay. Just making sure." He paused, and then made a grossed-out face. "Tai that's awful! Why'd you dream that I got disemboweled?"

"I didn't, I dreamt you got gutted."

Izzy stared at him like he was stupid. "It's the same thing, bozo." He crossed his arms and frowned. "You had a dream that I was gutted, and are now convinced that it's true? Do I look gutless to you?"

Tai grinned, and was about to make a comment about that, but the front door opening and closing cut him off. He sighed. "That will be Matt," he complained. "Here to tell me that my dream will probably come true."

Matt walked in, looking both confused, and annoyed. "Well, if you want it to, maybe it will." He sat down unceremoniously. "Tai, you have annoying neighbors who think they're in love with me," he mumbled.

"I do?" Tai thought about this. "Oh yeah…those twin girls who think you're 'hot' or something. Yeah, they asked me for your number." He shrugged. "So I gave it to them."

Matt's hands were suddenly around Tai's neck. "YOU WHAT?"

"I was kidding! I was kidding!" Tai pulled himself away from Matt's grasp with a grin. "Nevermind!"

Matt glowered with rage, and then calmed himself down. He glanced over at Izzy. "So what's this dream business?" he asked, rather sharply.

Izzy was watching Tai with an unreadable expression. "He had a dream that I got disemboweled. Or gutted, as he chose to say."

"Really? That's gross! Why would you want that dream to come true?" Matt turned to Tai accusingly. "Do you hate Izzy or something?"

"No, I…." Tai stopped talking. This conversation….it was different than the others. Well, it was still following the same path, but it was being said differently! He almost smiled with relief. Maybe this time he wouldn't find himself zapping back in time again.

"Well, you were probably the one ripping his guts out, weren't you?"

Tai's face suddenly turned red "Hey! No I wasn't! That's gross!" he crossed his arms indignantly. "I was not the one doing it! Mimi was!"

Both boys stared at him blankly. "Why would Mimi want to rip my guts out?" Izzy asked in a small voice. He paled slightly. "Does she…hate me? Is that what you're trying to say Tai? That Mimi hates me, and you are using this dream cover up to tell me about it?"

"What? No! I…"

"I can take it straight out you know, I'm not a wimp." Izzy dropped his eyes on his computer, looking incredibly distraught. And it appeared to Tai that he almost shrank in size a little bit.

Groaning loudly, Tai leaned forward. "No, that's not what I'm saying! I just had a weird dream, and it has nothing to do with anything except this conversation!" This was getting way out of hand.

"Tai, that is horrible," Matt said sharply. "I can't picture Mimi _touching _guts, let alone killing anyone! And that is really degrading that you would dream that about her, or Izzy for that matter! That is really awful of you!"

For a second, all Tai could do was sit there, his mouth hanging open. Then he clenched his hands into fists. "No! I…"

"What did he do that is so awful?"

The three boys turned their attention away from each other, to where Mimi was standing at the front door. Her hair had been growing out since she last died it, and the top half of it was her natural hair color. The ends of her hair were still pink though. On her face she wore a friendly smile, and her style of clothes was both incredibly American, and incredibly good-looking on her. She walked over, taking the exact same seat she had taken all three times before in Tai's "dreams," right in between Tai and Matt. Then she turned her eyes upon Tai questioningly.

"Tai dreamt that you gutted Izzy," Matt snapped, still glaring at Tai as if he'd done some huge crime.

"He did?" Mimi asked. She looked disgusted. "That's so gross! What an awful dream!" She glanced at Izzy, but he was affectively avoiding her eye-contact, looking as if he felt like throwing up. "Well that's ridiculous!" she stated, still looking around. "It's not like it actually happened, you bozos! I wouldn't even think about doing that! Besides, I wouldn't want to mess up my new manicure." She stared at her fingers with a smile, and then gave Matt a disapproving glare. "So quit acting like Tai's done this horrible sin!"

Matt simply crossed his arms and shrugged. "Whatever," he complained. "I wouldn't be so annoyed if it weren't for his stupid neighbors."

Ah, so that was what was annoying him. "Anyway," Tai said, coming out of his thoughts. He was relieved to have Mimi come to his rescue. "Izzy has something important to tell us. There are more digidestined who are different from the rest of us all over the world. They don't have digimon partners, but they're still digidestined! And they have something to do with that black out that happened around the Shibuya Train Station!"

For a long minute there was silence. But not longer than that.

"Well," Izzy said, finally speaking up. "I do believe you _were _listening, sort of."

Tai turned back to him. "I wasn't listening when I first fell asleep," Tai said quietly. "But after three times of reliving the same conversation we've just gone through, I've heard about that much."

Izzy stared at him, his eyes widening, and then slowly he opened his mouth to speak. "What Tai has just said is true," he said. "But I think we have a bigger problem."

"The fan girls?" Matt suggested.

"No." Izzy stood up, placing a hand on Tai's shoulder. "I'm sorry Tai," he said. "I think…I think I believe you…at least a little bit. Because how else would you have known all that if you fell asleep before I said it? And how else would you know that Matt and Mimi were coming?"

Tai smiled, and placed a hand on Izzy's shoulder as well. "Thanks Izzy," he sighed. "That means a lot. I just hope it doesn't happen again."

"What's going on here?" Mimi asked. She stood up. "We love that you guys are having this great friendship bonding here, but we're a little clueless as to what's going on!"

"I wish I could explain it to you," Izzy sighed, dropping his hand. "But I can't."

"Oh that's helpful." Matt was standing too. "If something is going on, I think you should tell us. That's why we're here. Although I'm wondering why no one else is here."

"Oh, that's easy to answer," Izzy said to Matt. He brushed Tai's hand off of his shoulder and sat back down to grab his computer. "Davis is at soccer game, Sora's mom put Sora on restriction, Joe had a test, TK told Davis he'd watch his game, Yolei did too, and so did Cody. That leaves us. Oh, and Kari."

"Where's Kari?" Tai was wondering why he didn't know himself. "Is she at the game?"

"No, Kari is feeling sick. She's here."

Tai blinked and then suddenly looked around him. His little sister was watching him from their room, from the top bunk. She looked pale and sickly, but otherwise very curious as to what is going on. "Oh yeah," he said vaguely. "She has the flu."

He turned back to Izzy with a sigh. "Well, that leaves us, but now we need to know what's going on."

Izzy was staring at him with a "weirded-out" expression, one eyebrow raised as high as it could possibly go.

"What?" Tai asked. "Something wrong?"

"No," Izzy answered slowly, looked slightly amused. "It was just funny to see you jump up in your sleep. I didn't know you sleep-walked."

Tai stared at him like he was stupid. "I don't."

"Then how do you explain your suddenly standing up and talking nonsense?"

Tai frowned. "Look, can we just get to the point already?"

Izzy sighed, set his computer down, and stood up and stretched. "Okay," he said giving Tai a level stare in the eyes. "I don't like it when you fall asleep on me." Tai stared at him blankly, saying nothing, and Izzy fidgeted nervously. Then he sat down. "There, I got to the point. I guess I can't get more direct than that."

Tai kept standing, completely motionless. And then it suddenly dawned on him. "Not again…" he whispered. "No please, not again…not after I just got you to believe me…please!"

"Tai? What's wrong? Why don't you sit down?" Izzy frowned, slightly concerned. "Maybe you have the flu too."

"I don't have the flu, okay?" Tai threw himself on the couch and buried his face in a pillow. He couldn't help the few tears that came to his eyes. "Izzy," he wailed. "What am I going to do? I can't do this anymore! I can't relive the same 25 minutes over and over and over, while no one else knows it's happening! I can't! I wont!"

He jerked his head up when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Kari was standing there, looking pale and weak. "Tai," she whispered. He instantly grabbed her arms and held her to make sure she wouldn't fall down.

"Kari! You need to go lie down!" he said urgently. He stood up and began walking her back to the room. "You need rest!"

"Tai," she insisted, frowning slightly. "I had a dream about you. And I'm worried."

Tai froze in his steps. Then he whirled Kari around to face him. "What did you dream?" he demanded. "What did you dream?"

Kari raised an eyebrow, startled at his urgency, and offered a small smile. "I dreamt…" she closed her eyes, and suddenly passed out.

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Thank you for all the reviews. But now it's time to review again!

If you have gotten this far in reading this story, you _should _review. You owe it to the author to tell them what you thought about the chapter, so they can do better. I would do the same. I review every story that I read. So there! Can YOU make that same claim?

God bless you all! And now, I'll leave you with an even more complex mystery than before!

---rika195


	5. Krypkee

**Am I Dreaming?----chapter 5**

Disclaimer on chapter 1

**Sapphire Dragoness**, **LittleFirefly44**, **Evide**, **Kouzumi93**, **DrumminTater**, **Vigatus**, **Berri**, **C1-J2**, and **One Hit Wonder**…THANK YOU SO MUCH! Your reviews were so encouraging! Never before have I gotten so many reviews on just the 4th chapter of a story. I am so surprised and very excited! Thanks to your reviews, comments, critiques, and excellent guesses, this story is being updated so soon. You guys are my favorites! Thank you so much!

This story is dedicated to Tasha, my younger sister and best friend, and also one of the best authors on fanfiction dot net. Her pen-name is **Tshk**. You should really check her out.

This story is also dedicated to my reviewers, who mean the world to m because they show me that they care about this story. Thank you guys!

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"Kari!" Tai screamed, although screaming probably made the situation worse. He picked her up in his arms and carried her to her bed, placing her upon it and making sure she was comfortable. The cool cloth for her forehead was dry, so he grabbed it and rushed into the bathroom to wet it with cold water. When he came back, Izzy was in the room checking her temperature.

"Her fever has gone up!" Izzy exclaimed. "That's really weird. She was fine a little while ago…"

"Here Kari, I brought you a cold cloth," Tai said, his voice shaking. He placed it gently on her forehead and held her hand, biting his lip until it almost bled. "You'll be okay Kari, I promise. You can tell me about your dream later, okay?"

Tai felt Izzy's hand on his shoulder, and turned to look at his friend with a helpless expression. "She's going to be okay," Izzy comforted. He knew that Tai was more worried than Kari was. "Just let her rest."

Tai nodded, but it took a lot more for Izzy to convince him to let go of his sister's hand and return to the living room. Once there, Tai threw himself on the couch and buried his face in a pillow. When he came up for air, there were tears running down his cheeks.

"Tai, what's wrong? Kari's going to be fine! It's just a flu!" Izzy was sitting awkwardly on the couch. He knew that Tai always felt awful when his sister was sick, especially because of the time she almost died when she was young. In the digital world, Tai had actually punched Izzy for no reason, simply because he told Tai to calm down. Yes, Tai was always up-tight when his sister was sick. Izzy just didn't expect him to cry.

"It's not just that," Tai hissed, choking on his tears. He turned and glared at Izzy. "It's this whole situation! I've already explained it so many times that I just don't want to anymore! I just don't want to explain it! I just don't want to deal with it!" He threw the wet pillow across the room at the ticking clock, and grabbed his messy hair with his hands. "I can tell you everything that's about to happen, but you still wont believe me! And then it will happen all over again!"

"Tai, calm down…maybe you ARE sick too," Izzy stood up, and went to go sit next to Tai on the couch. "Tell me what is wrong okay? Maybe I can help?"

Tia turned and looked at him helplessly. "You are the only one who can," he whispered. Then he took a shuddering breath and began to explain. He explained his dream, how it kept reoccurring, and how each time Izzy did not believe him. He explained how he kept living the same 25 minutes over and over, and how it was just getting worse and worse. When he was done, he knew that Izzy did not believe him. He could see it in his friend's face. And his tears began to fall faster. "I just can't take it! Who's doing this to me? Who is making me go through this?"

He stared at a spot on the carpet where the sun was touching it in a fixed beam, coming from the window. The rest of the room felt cold to him, but that one patch of sunlight seemed to mark that there was still something warm and bright about the situation. But what that bright spot was, he could not decide. Kari was feverish, he kept reliving the same thing, and no one would believe him. How could anything be alright?

Izzy took a deep breath of air, held it for a while, and then exhaled loudly. Absentmindedly he reach his right hand up and scratched his reddish hair, but then he dropped it and sighed again. "Tai…" he said, but he could think of nothing to say at the moment. So he stood up and grabbed his computer, then joined Tai on the couch again. As he opened it up and typed the password to unlock it, suddenly a thought came to him. Though it came as no surprise. He could always think better when he had his computer in front of him. It was like a comfort object. "Tai," he said urgently. "You said you asked me to save the conversation," he stated. "What did I save it as?"

Tai moaned slightly, still gripping his dark brown hair with his hands. "You didn't save it," he wailed. "You didn't type it down either. You were too busy trying to decide if you believed me or not!"

"Well I'm going to type it down now," Izzy stated. "You say this keeps happening over and over again, well lets test it. You tell me what everyone is going to say, and I'll write it down and save it. I'll edit the file so that its save-date is before this time period, just to be safe. Okay?"

Tai let go of his hair, and took a sharp intake of breath. "Oh Izzy, thank you!" he breathed. Then he frowned and got to thinking, "Okay, so first I say that I had a dream. Then you ask me to tell you what it was. So I tell you that I dreamt you got gutted, and you ask me if I even know what the word 'gutted' means. I say yes, but you explain it anyway. Got that so far?"

"Tai, I can type 120 words a minute," Izzy looked at him with a rather bored expression. "Of course I've got all of that." He turned his computer to face Tai, and sure enough, there was everything typed down in a word document. At the top of the document was the word "krypkee."

Tai raised an eyebrow. "Wow, cool. I can type 12 words a minute…" he grinned sheepishly. "But what does 'krypkee' mean?"

Izzy turned the computer back to face him, and shrugged. "It's a code word I use to prove that something is true. When I open this file later and see that word, I'll know that this is true. I use it very rarely. Oh, but don't use it on me unless it is in the situation that you are trying to prove this exact scenario. It's a secret. Okay?"

Confused, Tai only nodded. "Okay….well anyway….after that, I tell you that I also had a reoccurring dream. You then tell me that you can't believe I dreamt that, and that you're worried that I dreamt the same conversation we are having now. At that point, Matt comes in and says "who knows? Maybe it will come true." Oh, and maybe I should talk more about Matt…" Tai placed a hand to his head thoughtfully. "The conversation keeps changing slightly each time I have it, so it might be a little different this time. So I'll just tell you enough information to prove that I know things I wouldn't know unless this is true."

"Works for me," Izzy nodded. "Keep talking."

"Matt is wearing his favorite jacket, the one with the guitar on it, and the skull and the word ROCK. He has a green T-shirt underneath, and he's wearing jeans. When he comes in, he'll look annoyed. It's because of my neighbors. They think they're in love with him. Anyway…that's all I can remember right now…" Tai thought a little bit more, but couldn't come up with anything. Then he gasped. "Oh yeah! After he comes in, he will come sit on the couch next to me, right here…" he pointed to the end of the couch closest to the door.

"Okay, so keep explaining," Izzy prompted. Tai could tell he was looking extremely interested in Tai's explanation, as if he either couldn't believe it, or he was shocked because he was sure Tai was telling the truth. So Tai kept explaining.

"After Matt says my dream might come true, he comes and its here." Tai pointed again." Then he asks what I dreamt, and you tell him. He then asks me who did the dirty deed of gutting you, so I tell him that Mimi did it."

"Mimi?" Izzy asked, trying not to laugh.

"Yep. And that is exactly how you respond." Tai smirked at him. "Both you and Matt exclaim Mimi's name at the same time, and tell me either that you can't believe it, or that it's gross. Matt says that he can't picture Mimi touching guts, let along killing anyone, and then tells me that it was horrible of me to dream that about her."

"To which I agree." Izzy was already finished typing, and when Tai looked over his shoulder at the screen, he saw that Izzy was writing comments throughout the dialogue to question himself when he read the file later on. Most of them were codes that would help him believe it was true.

"Anyway, Mimi comes in at that point, and she comes to sit down right where you are sitting. She asks me what I did that was so horrible, and you guys tell her what I dreamt. So she agrees, and says she wouldn't soil her hands, and talks about her new manicure." Tai tried to remember what Mimi was wearing. "The ends of her hair are pink, and she is wearing her hair down. She is wearing a white mini-skirt and knee-high white cowgirl boots with cow patches on them. She's wearing a pink tank-top that says "Princess" in English. And she's got bracelets on her wrists."

"Hmmm. Keep going."

"Well, I'm almost done." Tai sighed, already sick of talking. "You three argue for a bit, but then you exclaim that you want to tell us something important. I believe your exact words are: 'There is something important that we digidestined need to be aware of.' And then you tell us that there are other digidestined besides the ones we already know about, and that these ones are different because they don't have digimon partners. But…" he paused. "That's all I ever hear before suddenly, I find you telling me that you're sick of me falling asleep on you."

Izzy sighed, now finished typing, and went to work saving the file. "I've saved it under the name "krypkee," okay? You need to tell me about it if this happens again."

Tai nodded, and watched as Izzy saved the file so that its save-date was yesterday, where it wouldn't be affected by the time jumping. He grinned in relief at Izzy, and grabbed him in a huge bear-like hug. "You're the best friend a guy could have," he said, choking his friend.

Izzy was pretty frail for a 14-year-old. He spent most of his time on the computer, after all. So as Tai nearly choked him, he complained loudly that Tai might break a rib. Tai let go, grinning. "Sheesh, you want to kill me?" Izzy asked, straightening his gray T-shirt.

"No…you little wimp," Tai teased. "You should eat more of my Mom's cooking to beef you up a bit." He laughed out loud. "I mean, you ARE the only one who likes it…"

Izzy grimaced a little. "Actually…" he began…then paused as the door opened, and Matt walked it. His eyes widened in surprise, and he turned to Tai in surprise.

Matt straightened his favorite jacket, the same one that Tai had described, and walked in glaring at Tai. Since there was no conversation for him to walk in upon, he had nothing to say. So instead, he simply took his place at the end of the couch, sitting with his hands buried in his pockets. A scowl was on his face.

Tai turned and winked at Izzy, and then gave Matt a teasing grin. "Those neighbors been bothering you?" he asked. He nearly got a sock in the eye.

"You knew, didn't you?" Matt yelled. He groaned loudly and stuffed his fist back in his pocket. "Keep your neighbors on a leash, please?" he begged, and almost threatened. He didn't notice the look exchanged between Izzy and Tai. "What's going on here anyway? Why did I waste my time?"

Tai shrugged. "Oh, just something really important that we digidestined need to know."

Matt gave him an annoyed glare. "Aren't you supposed to be asleep? Izzy said you dozed off on him."

"And I wish I hadn't," Tai admitted. "It's what started this whole mess."

"What whole mess?"

"My reoccurring dream."

Matt raised an eyebrow, truly interested. "Tell me about it. Maybe it'll come true."

Izzy's eyebrows raised further, but he said nothing. He simply kept watching Tai.

"I dreamt that Izzy got gutted. It was gross." Tai sat back, watching his two friends with interest. It was then that he realized something…

This was fun.

He knew everything that was going to happen, and now he had a way of making Izzy believe him. In his mind, he had nothing to worry about now. Even if it did happen again, he would know what to say. Now they could figure out a way to stop this.

"Gutted?" Matt asked. He rolled his eyes. "Do you even know what gutted means?"

Tai did a double take. "Wait…what?" he asked. In his mind, he was furiously asking himself, 'isn't that Izzy's line?' Suddenly he was getting worried.

"It means you rip someone's guts out with a knife and leave them to die a slow and painful death." Matt raised an eyebrow. "Is that what you dreamt happened?"

Tai nodded vaguely, feeling confused. Was this a good thing or a bad thing? But just then, Mimi walked in with a cheerful smile, shutting the door behind her and strolling in. Her clothes were exactly as Tai had described them, and as she sat down next to Izzy on the couch, Tai wondered if Izzy still believed him. He turned to look at his red-headed friend.

Izzy had stiffened as Mimi sat down next to him, and his cheeks had turned a slight pink color. Tai was confused for a moment, but then suddenly something dawned on him. He remembered how upset Izzy had been last time when he found out that Mimi was the one who gutted him in Tai's dream. It had almost seemed as if…

Tai raised his eyebrows in surprise, and turned to stare off vaguely at the clock. Did Izzy _like _Mimi? He grinned to himself, and rubbed his hands together. Maybe this could work to his advantage somehow. He had always thought that Izzy should hook up with someone, but he could never decide who. Mimi and her boyfriend had just broken up recently, and she probably wished she had someone more reliable. Who better than Izzy? He almost cackled out loud.

"What's going on?" Mimi asked. She placed her purse by the couch, and gave Izzy a little hug. "Good to see you again!" she said. She then gave Matt and Tai a wave, even though they were only a few feet from her.

"Tai had a dream that Izzy got gutted," Matt explained. He smirked slightly. "Which I find rather amusing."

"Huh? Why's that?" Izzy asked, snapping out of his embarrassed trance that he had slipped into when Mimi had hugged him. He was obviously feeling awkward about sitting on the couch, and was looking at the chair across from him rather longingly.

"I dunno. Just because."

"Ew, that's gross!" Mimi exclaimed, recoiling. "Who would do such a thing?"

Izzy turned and looked at her oddly. "Actually, Mimi," he said, "in Tai's dream…you were the one who did it."

Mimi shrieked, obviously grossed out. "Why on earth would I want to do that?" she exclaimed. "I can't picture myself touching guts! Let alone killing anyone!"

Once again, Tai's mind did a double take. Wasn't this conversation a little out of order? He glanced at Izzy, who was looking at the dialogue on his computer with mild interest. He glanced at Tai, and seemed to be telling him that although the people saying these things were wrong, the dialogue was still the same, and it was freaking him out.

"Yeah, really," Matt yawned. "But forget all this nonsense. It isn't why we are here. Izzy has something to tell us."

"Yeah," Izzy nodded. He typed down the word "surpintine" at the end of the word document, and resaved it so that it still held the same date that he had first saved it under. When Tai gave him a questioning glance, he simply said, "I'll explain next time." Then he hastily got up and retreated to his wooden chair. "I think there are some new digidestined, and we need to talk to them. But first, let me tell you about them."

Tai glanced at the clock, noticing that it read 3:45 pm. Then he cringed. "Izzy!" he screamed, jumping up. Then he froze in spot. The clock read 3:20 pm.

"Tai?" Izzy asked. He frowned and looked up at his friend from where he sat. "Did you just scream my name?" he asked.

Tai nodded, still staring at the clock. It was ticking away, precious minutes still left until the whole thing happened again. He glanced down at his friend, and suddenly thought of something. "I'll be right back," he said, walking toward Kari's room. "Oh, and look for a file on your computer called "krypkee" and open it. You need to read it. It's urgent."

Izzy's mouth fell open slightly at the use of the word "krypkee," and he sat there for a minute in silence. Then he searched for the file.

Tai ran into Kari's room, going over to check on her. She was lying the same way he had seen her before, the wet cloth on her head. It was still wet, but it was burning hot now. He took it off, ran to the bathroom, and got it wet with some cold water. Then he came back and gently placed it over her head.

Kari's eyes flickered open. "Oh, Tai!" she whispered. "I had the strangest dream about you!"

"Tell me," Tai whispered, taking her hand and holding it. "What did you dream?"

She gave a small sigh, and used her other hand to adjust the cold cloth on her forehead. "I dreamt that you were locked in room, with no doors and no windows. You were trying to get out, but the only thing in the room was a string and a key…but there was no door for the key to fit." She shuddered, the fever giving her chills.

Tai pulled the blanket over her, tucking it around her gently. He did not rush her to explain, he simply waited until she was ready.

"You were yelling and screaming, and one time you cried. I tried to go to you, but the closer I got, the worse I felt until I completely blacked out. I wanted to tell you that there was a way out, but I couldn't remember what it was." She look up at him. "And every time I close my eyes, I see you in that room. It's so scary Tai…" and her eyes filled with tears.

"Hey, it's okay Kari…" Tai reach out his other hand and stroked her cheek. "It's okay, little-sister. See? I'm fine. I'll be alright! It's just a dream."

Kari's eyes faded closed, and she shivered again. Then she opened them wide and gasped. "Tai," she whispered. "The string!"

"What about it?" Tai asked, squeezing her hand. He wanted her to calm down, but he couldn't bring himself to tell her. His spine was crawling with a feeling of dread, as if he knew something bad was going on, and Kari was the only one who could tell him what it was.

"Someone is on the other end," she said, without explaining. "You have to reach the person on the other end…"

"Kari, shh…." He stroked her cheek again, gripping her hand. "Just calm down…"

"And the key…" she shuddered involuntarily. "The key is a person…only…I can't see who it is…" She gasped and then closed her eyes, falling instantly into unconsciousness.

Tai held her hand, trembling, and then held it to his face. Her hand was hot…too hot. He felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Tai," came Izzy' voice. Tai turned to look around, and saw Izzy's eyes wide with shock. "I found the file…" he stated. "And I want you to explain it."

Tai nodded and stood up, gently laying Kari's hand down on the bed. He walked out and sat on the couch, looking up at Izzy with a grave expression. He sighed and shook his head helplessly. "I'm in a room with no doors and no windows, with only a string and a key to help me."

And with that, he fell backwards on his couch and closed his eyes, wishing the whole situation could be explained to HIM.

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And so this chapter draws to a close. Aren't you guys wondering what's going on? Isn't this story so cool? Sorry, sometimes I surprise even myself with something that is pretty okay. So anyway…

Thank you for all the reviews. But now it's time to review again!

If you have gotten this far in reading this story, you _should _review. You owe it to the author to tell them what you thought about the chapter, so they can do better. I would do the same. I review every story that I read. So there! Can YOU make that same claim?

God bless you all! And now, I'll leave you with an even more complex mystery than before!

---rika195


	6. The Key

**Am I Dreaming?------Chapter 6**

Thank you to my awesome reviewers for the last chapter: **sushimonster724**, **Evide**, **Berri**, **DrumminTater**, and **Vigatus**. Your reviews were encouraging! I am thrilled that you are all hanging onto your seats, and that you don't know what the answer to this riddle is. Your guesses were really good, but I wont say anything yet. Hehe.

And so, without further ado… Please enjoy this next confusing chapter, and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

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Izzy stared at his bushy-haired friend Tai, his face drawn in a contemplating expression. Never in his life had he told anyone his secret words that he used when storing important information--like secrets--on his computer. And yet Tai had used "krypkee" as if he knew what it was. Izzy had been shocked, but he trusted Tai enough to know that something serious must be going on. Sure enough…there was. 

Izzy seated himself on the wooden chair that sat across from the couch. He felt a certain safety in that chair, although he had no idea why. Something kept drawing him back to it, and so he sat in it without thinking much about it. He glanced at his computer, the file "krypkee" still open. He glanced through it, frowning. The file explained that Tai was locked in a time warp that kept sending him back to relive these current 25 minutes. It also stated that Izzy was unable to remember it happening. So only Tai was affected. Izzy would not believe such a thing, naturally, unless someone he trusted absolutely gave him proof of that. And really, the only person he trusted was…himself.

That was why he had come up with words like "krypkee" and "surpintine" to indicate messages to himself. And the fact that those words, plus other secret phrases and such, were riddled through the file, it HAD to be true. There was no other explanation for it!

"I don't understand," Izzy said eventually, glancing over at Tai. The other teen had his face buried in a pillow, and by the intermitted sniffles, it appeared he was crying. "How can this be happening? And why is this time loop only affecting you?"

Tai lifted his face from the pillow, giving Izzy a furious and tearful glare. "I don't KNOW," Tai hissed. "But you're the only one who can help me, and I don't even know how you are going to be able to do that!"

Izzy pressed his lips together in a thin line, biting back a sharp retort. He was trying to help, and he didn't like it when Tai snapped at him for no reason. But it happened all the time. Really, Izzy should be callous to it by now. Except he wasn't. He would never get used to being snapped at as if he had done something wrong, but he had managed to keep himself from snapping back. At least he could say that for himself. After a pause, Izzy remembered something Tai had said. He blinked. "Hey Tai," he asked slowly, "What did you say a couple minutes ago? About a room with no doors and windows?"

Tai inhaled and exhaled slowly, trying to stop his flow of unmanly tears. "I said I'm in a room with no doors or windows, with only a string and a key to help me. Why?"

Izzy placed his hand on his chin, thoughtful. Then he began to think out loud. Thinking out loud did nothing for him, but he was doing it for Tai's sake. Otherwise, Izzy might leave Tai far behind with his fast-paced train of thought. "It's like one of those riddles," he said, pausing to look for a good example. "Tai, say you're in a room with no doors and windows, and all you have is a table and a saw. How do you get out?"

"I don't know," Tai snapped. He crossed his arms, sniffing. The look on his face admitted that he probably would know if he thought about it, but he just didn't want to. He wanted Izzy to think for him. "How?"

Izzy opened his mouth, and then the door opened. Matt walked in. Sure enough, he was wearing the jacket described in the file labeled "krypkee." Izzy shuddered, the whole situation feeling rather spooky, and motioned for Matt to take a seat. "Matt and Tai. You're in a room with no doors or windows, with only a table and a saw. How do you get out?"

Matt seated himself on the couch, his hands in his pockets, and glared at Izzy and Tai as if they had done something wrong. "I thought this was supposed to be an important meeting," Matt mumbled. "What does a riddle have to do with anything?"

"Everything," Izzy answered blandly. He sighed and glanced at the clock. They were running out of time. "Fine, just listen. You take the saw, cut the table in half, take the two halves and put them together to make a _hole._" He glanced at both boy's blank faces and groaned. "It's a riddle. A play on words. Tai, the riddle presented to you is the same kind, but this time you have a string and a key. Now we have to find the answer."

"But it's not a riddle!" Tai stood up and began to pace, glaring at the clock. "It's really happening! I don't understand it, but it's what Kari could see. That was how she explained it to me!"

"Kari?" Izzy raised his eyebrows, startled. "Tai, if Kari is saying that, then it could be just symbolism."

"That's what it is!" Tai practically yelled. He threw himself back on the couch and rubbed his face with his hand. Izzy bristled at the sharp words, but said nothing. "She said that there is someone on the other end of the string, and that I have to get to that person. She also said that the key is a person."

"Well…if you had said that before, I might not have had to waste time with the riddle part," Izzy snapped, barely concealing his dislike for being yelled at. He sighed and began typing on his computer everything he was figuring out. If this time warp kept happening, Izzy had to be able to figure it out. So every new thing he learned, he had to write it down and save it so that he could keep going next time. When he was done typing, he looked up to see Mimi standing next to him, a curious expression on her face.

"What's going on?" she asked, looking concerned. She placed a hand on his shoulder. "I haven't seen you this worried since Malomyotismon!"

Izzy expertly held in a blush…and then realized he was not very good at it. The blush managed to sneak to his cheeks, and he coughed and pretended like he was just coughing or something. "We have a problem, and I'm afraid I can't explain."

"Oh?" Mimi smiled at him. If she noticed Izzy's blush, she was kind enough to pretend not to. She seated herself between Tai and Matt on the couch and waited for an explanation.

Izzy tried not to look at her. He thought she was gorgeous, and every time she came around he felt like fainting. He never knew how to talk to her, but he tried to pretend like everything was normal. But he didn't know how well that was going. If he knew anything about Mimi, it was that she could see through everyone's mask. "Well…" he started to say, then realized he had no time to explain. He saved his file as if he had saved it a couple days ago—just in case—and set his computer down. He stood up urgently, and then blinked. He turned and looked at the wooden chair.

It was like a magnet. He couldn't keep away…he HAD to sit in that chair! Struggling because he was confused, Izzy took a step toward the chair, and then almost sat down. Then he pulled away. What was happening to him? Why did he want to sit in that chair so badly? It made no sense! Perplexed, Izzy found himself rooted in place, trying not to sit down. He was suspicious, but he couldn't hold out much longer. He had to sit down or…or…or what?

"Izzy that's it!" Tai yelled, jumping off the couch. Tai grabbed Izzy's arm, dragging him away from the chair. "I understand! It's not a riddle, Izzy. I know who the key is. It's YOU!"

"Me?" Izzy asked, his voice barely above a whisper. He reached a hand blindly for the wooden chair, trying to touch it, and then felt himself getting pulled through fire. Tai's hand burned against his skin, and he tried to get lose. Tai would not let go. "Let me go," Izzy begged, pulling. He was far weaker than Tai, as he had never been athletic, and he failed miserably. Tai's hand continued to burn, and the fire around Izzy's body seemed to grow worse by the second. Weakly, he cried out in pain and then blacked out. The pain was too severe.

…

"Izzy? Are you okay? Izzy speak to me! Say something! IZZY!"

Izzy jolted awake, gasping for air like he'd been holding his breath. The pain in his body was gone, and the burning sensation had vanished. Faintly, he looked up at Tai. He was sitting on the floor. "What happened?" he asked weakly. "I feel…drained."

Tai gulped audibly, and pulled Izzy to his feet. "The time warp," Tai explained. "Do you remember?"

Izzy stared at him, and nodded slowly, the weight of the situation finally dawning on him. He glanced at the couch, but Matt and Mimi were not there. He shivered. "I remember…but…I don't understand. Why did it hurt so bad?"

Tai sighed heavily, a tear slipping out of his eye. "You came with me," he cried, throwing his arms around Izzy in a hug. "You came! You really did! I'm not alone anymore!" He squeezed so hard Izzy's back cracked, then released his friend with a quick "sorry."

"Yes, I came…" Izzy frowned, then straightened his shirt. "Calm down." He sighed and looked around. "What I don't understand is why I felt like I had to sit down in that chair so bad! And why did it hurt so much for me to go back in time with you? I don't understand!"

"I think I do, but you're not going to like it." Tai sighed, glancing wryly at the clock. "See, you have to be the key, the way out. And the only way for me to get out of this is with you. But whoever is on the other side of the string doesn't WANT me to get out! So that's why it hurts for you to go back in time with me."

Izzy frowned harder, not quite following Tai's train of thought. "Explain," he ordered.

Tai gave a great sigh. "The chair is the object that keeps you from going back in time with me. You are drawn to it because of some kind of….I don't know. For the sake of my explanation, I'll call it a spell. So if you are not on that chair by the time the time loop comes, you'll go back in time. It hurts, because the time loop was placed on me and not you, so I have to FORCE you to come." Tai paused and frowned at Izzy, a worried expression on his face. "And you do look pale. I think it really drained you."

"You think?" Izzy sat down on the wooden chair without thinking, feeling extremely tired. "I feel like I've been burned, and like the blood has been drained from my very veins!"

"I'll get you something to eat," Tai said, rushing to the kitchen. He sacked the cabinets and carried back some snack foods, presenting them to Izzy with a worried look. "I want you to come back with me again next time," he pleaded. "I need your help. Otherwise, I'll be stuck in this time loop forever!"

"Are you the only one in the time loop?" Izzy asked, grabbing a melon pan. He opened it and began to eat it, suddenly feeling starved. He couldn't believe he was so hungry! Hadn't he just eaten recently? "What about Kari? You mention that she was the one who gave you the riddle analogy. Is she in it too?"

"I don't know, I never asked her," Tai exclaimed, suddenly shocked. He lapsed into thought, and then gasped. "She must be in it too! I found a cloth for her head that was dry, and I got it wet for her. But the next time, when I went back to see her, the cloth was still wet!" He leapt up and dashed into Kari's room, and Izzy did not follow him. Let Tai talk to his sick little sister.

Izzy sighed, then blinked, looking at his hands. Had he really finished the bread? He couldn't even remember eating it! Oh well. He grabbed another snack item and devoured that as well. After a few minutes, he felt better. Well, he felt a _little _better. Sighing, he stood up from the chair and walked over to Kari's room.

"Kari, I think Izzy is the key," came Tai's voice from the room. He was standing next to the bunk bed, where Kari lay on the bottom bunk. Usually, the bottom of the bunk bed was where Tai slept. But Tai must have decided that Kari was better off on the lower bunk.

Izzy watched as Kari's eyes flickered open, and she shuddered involuntarily. "Yes, Izzy is in the room with you…but…"

"But what?" Tai pressed, holding her hand tightly. Izzy crept into the room to listen, watching the two. He felt slightly jealous, wishing he had a brother or a sister to take care of when they were sick, or to take care of him when he was sick. But he didn't.

"But he's in danger, Tai…you have to be careful! As long as he stays in the room, he's dying. You have to use the key before the string get cut!" Kari coughed, shivering with the fever. "Just be careful Tai. You can't let Izzy die…you can't…"

"I wont Kari! I wont! I promise." Tai also shivered, as if the idea that Izzy was dying scared him out of his wits. "But who is on the other side of the string? Are they trying to cut the string? Is that our way out?"

Kari gave no answer, plunged deep into unconsciousness. Izzy backed out of the room, dimly aware that he too was shaking all over. He went back to the wooden chair, then grabbed his computer and hugged it tightly. "I'm dying?" he asked, as if he could hardly believe it. Was what Kari was saying true? Izzy drew his knees up to his chest and tried to calm down, but the fear of death was weighing heavily on him.

He didn't want to die. But he didn't want Tai to be stuck in a time loop forever. It meant that he was stuck in a time loop forever too, he just didn't know it! Which was worse? Knowing or not knowing? Knowing but dying, or not knowing and living? He sighed, frustrated. This required some serious thinking.

"Izzy," Tai croaked, his voice hoarse. "It doesn't look good."

"No," Izzy agreed. "It doesn't." He looked up at Tai, trying to hide his fear. He was unsuccessful.

"I think this has something to do with that important information you were trying to tell me before I fell asleep," Tai said, easing himself onto the couch. "That's how it all started. Someone doesn't want us to know this information about the other digidestined, and we have to figure out who!"

Izzy blinked, and then let his legs fall back to the floor as he stood up. "That must be it!" he exclaimed. "You're right! Let me see…Maybe I should just tell you about it, and ignore Matt and Mimi when they come until we can figure this out."

"Sounds like a plan but…."

"But what?"

Tai frowned and crossed his arms, staring intently into Izzy's eyes. "If we run out of time before we figure anything out, I'll have to pull you through the time warp again."

"I know…" Izzy nodded. "And I think that's a good idea. The sooner we figure this out, the sooner we'll ALL be free of this stupid time loop." He shivered. "But…food helps…"

"Understood," Tai grinned, motioning to the pile of snacks on the table. Keep eating. You're looking pale again."

Izzy nodded, then joined Tai on the couch. He grabbed another snack, and began to explain. "So there are some more digidestined, but they are different than the others. They don't have digimon partners. Instead, they turn into their digimon. At least, they did. They can't anymore. Anyway, I found out about them by mistake, when I accidentally walked in on a pair of them talking about it. I listened for a while, and discovered that they are being called back to the digital world to turn into digimon again, and fight some great evil. So I rushed back here to tell you." He paused, then realized he had eaten the snack and hadn't even realized it. He grabbed another and wolfed it down.

"So they are being called back to the digital world, but not us?" Tai looked disappointed, but he looked resigned to let that be. "Why did you want to tell us?"

Izzy finished eating and grabbed another snack, marveling at how starved he felt. Then he continued explaining. "Because I think we should offer aid to them! We need to make sure that they are safe. Kind of anonymous secret pals or something who protect them from the outside, and keep everyone on our world informed of what's going on! If they fail, we can understand enough about their mission to keep this side protected."

"So there is an evil digimon, and this evil digimon does not want us to help? Or maybe the digidestined don't want us to help?" Tai frowned. "I don't like either option."

"Well, there's only one way to find out." Izzy grabbed his computer, and then logged on to the digital server. "We're going to figure out if this time loop is digital. And if it is…" He never got further, because Matt walked into the room, his hair a mess, his jacket unzipped, and a dark cowl on his face.

"Tai…" Matt seethed between clenched teeth, "your neighbors need to be restrained!" He walked toward the couch, took one look at Izzy, and then started in surprise. "My gosh Izzy, you look awful!"

Tai glanced at Izzy briefly, and his face paled. "Oh Izzy…you do look like you're dying!"

Izzy gulped, shivering, and then glanced from one teen to the other. Then he grabbed every snack on the table and wolfed it down, hoping it would keep him alive long enough to figure out this dangerous dilemma.

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And so the chapter closes. It was much different than the others, wasn't it? 

Merry Christmas, and God bless you! Give me a review for Christmas!

---rika195


	7. The Time For Action

**Am I Dreaming?-----------Chapter 7**

Happy New Year everyone!

Thank you for your reviews! You guys rock! Thank you **Sapphire Dragoness**, **Berri**, **Vigatus**, **Evide**, **DrumminTater**, and **Kouzumi93. **Your reviews were awesome! I am so happy! I hope you like this chapter as well! Sorry to keep you waiting.

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**Disclaimer**: I do not own Digimon.

POV: Yamato Ishida (Matt)

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I stared at Izzy, my eyes wide in shock. I could hardly believe what I was seeing. Before me, Izzy was sitting on a wooden chair, eating snacks as if they were the only food he'd ever see again. His face was gaunt and pale, and his eyes sunken in like he was dying. It looked as if he were wasting away by the minute, and heck, it scared me! "Izzy," I breathed, coming forward intensely. I knelt down next to him, my more protective nature taking over. It rarely happens, but when it does, I'm like one of those Mothers who could fight off an attacking animal three times their size just to protect their kid. And right then, that's just about how I felt. "Izzy, what's wrong?" I was sure as heck that something was terribly wrong, and I was going to stop it if I could. And nothing could stop me from doing that.

Izzy seemed to ignore me for a minute, but then he smiled faintly, saying nothing in response. Instead he continued to type furiously away at his computer. Tai stood up from the couch and came to sit next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Izzy, how does it look?" Tai asked, his voice cracking. His face was as pale as Izzy's, but the expression he carried was one of guilt, as if this were all his fault. I didn't understand, but his expression set me off. I began to get angry at him, without even realizing why. I guess that just happens.

"Not good," Izzy admitted presently. He sighed faintly and rubbed his forehead. "I feel terrible." And I believed it.

"You look terrible!" I exclaimed, growing even more angry. There was something going on that Tai and Izzy knew, and they weren't telling me about it. Why did they always leave me out of things like this? "What is going on here? I want to know what's wrong!" I stared from Izzy to Tai and back again, frustrated. Tai is always like this! He always tries to do everything himself! It's so selfish of him!

"Matt, you wouldn't believe me if I told you," Tai snapped, instantly going into defensive mode. "Time's running out. So if you don't mind, let Izzy finish working!" Tai was shaking, tears bottled up behind his eyes. He turned away from me and Izzy and ran for his room.

I watched him go, furious. "How can he be like that?" I demanded. "What does he mean, time is running out? WHAT IS GOING ON? I WANT TO HELP!"

"Calm down!" someone yelled at me. I snapped my head around to find Mimi staring at me. She had just entered through the door, looking miffed at my yelling. Mimi is always one for solving problems, and rarely did I want to cross her. She walked further into the room, taking off her shoes at the gaikan and stepping onto the carpet. "Matt, you're not going to help anyone if you're acting like that. I'm sure Tai and Izzy..." Mimi gasped and fell over onto the couch, her eyes wide with fright, focused intensely on the red-head next to me. "IZZY!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. Her hand went to her mouth in shock. She could say nothing else, only stare at him.

Izzy leaned back in his chair, relieved, and then looked up at me with a half smile on his gaunt face. "I did it," he breathed. I blinked and frowned, confused. Did what? My eyes must have conveyed the message, because he continued explaining. "It is a digital time warp, and it's only focused on Tai. I reversed it just in time, and now it's not affecting us anymore, even though I wasn't sure I'd be able to do it. But...I did. We're going to be okay." He sighed again and closed his eyes, sitting limply in the chair. He said nothing else.

I stared at Izzy, my mouth half open in a failed attempt to say something. What did Izzy mean by that? Digital Time Warp? Focused on Tai? Bewildered, I turned to Mimi. She was still in shock. And Tai was off in his room, hiding. It looked like I would have to be the one to straighten everything out. I took a deep breath, stood up, and straightened my shoulders. Fine. I would do something. "Mimi," I ordered sharply, shaking her shoulders. "Come out of it. I need you to make sure that Izzy is alright. Okay? You need to take care of Izzy!"

Mimi's eyes watered, and she nodded slowly so that I knew she understood. Then she stood up and went to him. Inside, I felt like smiling. Mimi is a girl, but she's strong, and she does what needs to be done even when it's hard. For that, I respect her. Mimi touched Izzy's forehead, her hand trembling. "What...happened?" she asked in a whisper, her voice choking. "He looks dead!"

"I don't think he is...yet." I shuddered, noticing how cold Izzy looked, and how lifeless. "Call 9-1-1. NOW." There was nothing else that I could do with Izzy. I had to find Tai. Quickly, I dashed into Tai's room, determined to figure everything out. Izzy had said we would be alright. But he had also said that the problem was focused on Tai. Tai would know what was going on. Even if he didn't want to talk about it, I would make him. We had to figure this out, and fast!

I skidded to a stop three feet inside the door, struck with a feeling I couldn't quite place, and I looked around. In Tai's room it was dark, and the room smelled like a room that someone who was sick or dying was staying in. It was strange. The smell was not strong, nor was it a tangible smell. I can't even explain it. I simply _felt_ the smell of the room rather than _smelled_ it with my nose. The feeling made me swallow audibly, and I walked in slowly. That was when I noticed Tai kneeling by his bedside, Kari sleeping in it.

"Kari, please speak to me," Tai whispered, his voice broken. Even I was taken back at the sound. I don't think I've ever heard Tai sound so weak. "Please speak to me. I need you to wake up, Kari. Please!" He continued to hold her hand, crying silently, but like Izzy, Kari was pale and unresponsive.

I walked up to Tai slowly, afraid to say anything. I didn't know what to think. Something big was going on, and I didn't even know where to start asking about it. But I had to say something. Tentatively, I opened my mouth. "Tai," I said quietly. Tai turned to face me, his face streaked with tears. I cleared my throat determinedly. "Tell me everything. Izzy said that the time warp has been stopped."

Tai bit his lip, then stood up shakily. He held onto my shoulder for balance, catching me by surprise, but I didn't say anything. I just let him hold on. "I was caught in a digital time warp, and kept reliving that past 25 minutes over and over again," he said shakily, shuddering at the thought. "Finally, I got Izzy to come back in time with me. But the effort was killing him. He tried to help me, but...Kari says we've almost lost him. She says...he's...almost gone..." Tai broke down, unable to speak further. But all that he had said had only raised more questions. It was like a giant mystery that kept getting worse and worse.

I was frustrated. Heck, I was angry. And I didn't even understand why these things were happening, or why Kari's word was suddenly law! Was there something about Kari that I don't know? I led Tai out to the couch and sat him down on it, noticing that he was almost too worn out to keep standing. Then I turned to Mimi. "How's Izzy?" I demanded.

"He's breathing," Mimi said, her voice trembling. "But..."

"It's going to be alright, I promise," I declared. I pulled out my cell phone and dialed a number. "Did you call 9-1-1?" Mimi nodded, so for the moment, I was satisfied. I put the phone to my ear, and after a few rings, TK answered. Good. At least he still answers when I call. Sometimes he gets upset when I call him in the middle of things, but he promised me he'd always answer unless he was completely unable to. I took a breath, and let an urgent edge enter my voice. "TK, this is Matt."

"Yeah I know that," TK answered back, his voice muffled by people cheering in the background. He sounded carefree, happy, relaxed...I hated to ruin that. "I have caller ID. What's wrong? I can already tell by your voice that something is wrong."

"There's a digital problem," I said, realizing that those words were a huge understatement. I glanced at Izzy, slumped stiffly in the chair. "Izzy's dying, and Tai is completely incapable of doing anything. Kari looks like she's dying too. You need to get over here right away." I spoke harshly--more harshly than I should have--hoping that TK would understand that I was simply worried, and not upset at him or anything. I have a tendency of sounding more mean than I really want to be at times, but I was too worked up to sound less angry.

TK's response was not unexpected. "WHAT THE HECK!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. Seconds later, the line was dead. He had hung up.

Satisfied, I turned back to the others, trying hard to come up with the next step. I glanced at Izzy's laptop, still open. It was sitting on the table. Slowly, I reached down and glanced at it, and was rewarded with an instant headache. It was all code, data, and programming. None of it made any sense. How in the world does he live and breathe that computer code like it was the very meaning of life? I could never understand that. But I didn't have to. Izzy was always there to worry about these kinds of things. Frustrated once again, I straighted up and crossed my arms. "Well that's not going to help me any," I mumbled. I sighed and glanced at Izzy. "What the heck is going on here?"

"It's an evil digimon," Tai whispered from the couch. Shocked, I turned to glare at him for more of an explanation. Thankfully, for his own health, he continued. "There are other digidestined at the digital world right now, trying to fight an evil digimon, but they might not be able to do it alone. So in order to stop us from helping, the evil digimon placed a time warp on _me_. I think the time warp only affected our world, and those digidestined are still in danger on the digital world!" Tai wiped his eyes and tried to stop shaking. "But...I don't know what to do. I feel so lost..."

"Don't worry, we can do this," I assured him, not at all comforted by my own words. In reality, I was thinking 'oh great, we're doomed.' But I wasn't about to let that on. Right then, I was in charge. And I had to be the one to get us through. "We're not helpless! We are digidestined!" I uncrossed my arms and started pacing. "It looks like we're going to have to contact the digital world, and see what's happening over there. Izzy is practically dead, so we can't get him to help us...but..." sudden realization hit me, and I snapped my fingers. "Of course! Ken! He's a genius. He can do it!"

Tai swallowed and sat up straighter, some of the darkness behind his eyes lifting. My words seem to ignite something inside him, the fire that I know is always there, and his eyes hardened in determination. Good. We wont get anywhere with him feeling sorry for himself. Tai frowned suddenly. "But he's in a soccer game...he and Davis..."

"TK will get him here. You'll see." I sighed and rubbed my forehead, hoping to God that TK would get them here like I said. If not...oh well. We'd do something else. Belatedly, I finished my thought. "Then we'll set this right. Whoever is doing this will pay. They'll pay for hurting Izzy...they'll pay." I clenched my hand into a fist and kept pacing, glacing back at Izzy. He seemed to frown slightly, before his face relaxed again, and that gave me hope. Maybe he wasn't dying after all. Maybe Kari was wrong. Heck, what did Kari know anyway? She's probably just sick! Delirious! Right? The heavy weight in my gut suggest that I could be wrong, but I didn't want to think about that.

I just kept pacing around the room, Mimi and Tai watching me in silence, and from the looks on their faces, I knew that they were glad I was on their side. Their expressions startled me, but it was encouraging. Slightly pleased, I tried to hide a smile. What were friends for if not to help and protect each other? Right? Of course I would do anything in my power to make sure everything straightened out! If I didn't do that, what kind of friend would I be?

The sound of sirens caught everyone's attention, and within seconds, paramedics burst through the door. Tai and Mimi were still half in shock, so I took charge. "Izzy," I said, pointing to our friend. "He's fainted, and he looks dead!" I managed to hear one of the paramedics swearing, muttering under his breath. His words sounded like, 'Heck yeah, he looks dead!' That did not, needless to say, give me any hope. Then I pointed to Tai's bedroom. "And Kari, in there. Her too."

The paramedics split, one of them going into Tai's room, the other staying with Izzy. They ordered us to stand back, asking me questions about what happened. What could I say? I made it up. "I came into the house, and saw him sitting there. He looked awful. Then he just fainted, and we can't get him to respond. We don't know what's wrong." The paramedic seemed to think that was fine, and all within 10 minutes, they had him on oxygen and into the ambulence. Kari, too. And then they were about to leave.

I panicked, grabbing Mimi's arm and rushed out the door after them. "Wait!" I demanded, shoving Mimi toward them. "Mimi wants to go too!" I gave her a demanding look, shoved her towards the ambulance, and watched as they took off. I knew Mimi didn't really want to go, but I also knew that someone _needed_ to go. And I needed Tai to stay with me. But it was well after the ambulance was gone from sight before I trudged back into Tai's appartment, slamming the door behind me.

Tai was standing in the middle of the room, looking guilty, tired, and upset. I knew that he felt like everything was his fault, and I wanted so badly to blame him for it. But...I couldn't. Because it wasn't true. "I'm sorry," he murmured, clenching his hands into fists. He was done crying, and all trace of tears had left his now hard face. "I failed."

"No," I said, shaking my head. I walked toward him, giving a big sigh. "We haven't. Not yet." Then I looked at the computer, waiting for TK and the others to make it. That was all we could do. That, and hope.

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Different, aye? Very different. I'll probably go back to Tai's POV next time. But I wanted things to be drastically different. What do you think? Not much was explained because Matt doesn't know much about what is going on. So the answers to all the questions will come later. But anyway, I'm sorry it took so long.

God bless you all!

---rika195


	8. A Little Light on the Subject

**Am I Dreaming?**----------------chapter 8

Here's a big thank you to my awesome reviewers:

**One Hit Wonder**

**CRAZY WITH HAPPINESS**

**Vigatus**

**Sapphire Dragoness**

You guys rock, and I am really thankful for your reviews. Thanks for sticking with me!

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**Disclaimer**: I do not own these characters

**POV**: Mimi Tachikawa, age 15

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Mimi stared at Izzy and Kari, biting her fingernails nervously. It was a very terrible thing to do, especially since she had just gotten them fixed earlier that morning, but she couldn't help it. She didn't have a habit of biting her nails—not at all—but in a situation where two of her best friends were DYING, it was something she just could not help. Nor could she handle the stress that came with the entire situation.

Dramatically she grabbed onto the paramedic sitting next to her, hugging him tight. "You have to save them!" she cried, bursting into tears. "You have to!"

The paramedic shrugged her off, setting her firmly back in her seat. "We are doing everything we can," he told her crossly. "You need to be calm." He turned away from her, looking annoyed. He too was feeling the stress of the situation, and though he was not mad at Mimi, he could not help acting a little rudely.

But it did nothing to calm her down. Mimi hugged herself tightly, still crying, and wished with all her might that they would be alright. She didn't know what else to do.

When the ambulance arrived at the hospital, the paramedics rushed the two patients inside as carefully as they could, and dragged Mimi along with them. "We need you to fill out patient information," they told herm handing her a clipboard.

Mimi stared at the clipboard in her hands, her eyes still dripping, and nodded. "I….have to call their parents…." She stuttered. "I don't know….insurance…."

"Sit in the waiting room while you do it, and if you need help, Michiko at the front desk will answer your questions," the paramedic told her. He hurried off, leaving her standing in front of a desk with a clipboard and a pen.

Michiko, the desk lady, turned to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay," she said sweetly. "We will do everything we can. Now let's get this information filled out. Okay?" She pulled Mimi to a chair and sat her down. "Do you know their parents numbers?"

"N..no…." Mimi sniffed, grateful for the nurse's comforting. "But…I know someone who does…" she took out her cell phone and dialed the first number that came to mind: Tai's.

He answered on the first ring. "Everything okay?" he demanded. "Are you okay?"

Mimi blinked, suddenly feeling touched by his concern. He didn't just ask about them, he had also asked about her. "I'll be alright," she affirmed. She wasn't sure, but just knowing that someone cared about how she was doing made her feel better. "But I need Kari and Izzy's medical information. Insurance, allergies, previous hospital visits….what happened to make them so sick…everything."

"Oh right….I guess I should have gone…." Tai sounded annoyed on the other end. "Well, here, let me start with Kari's and mine. We have the same insurance…." He began to rattle off a few things, then stopped. "Actually, why don't you just read the paper work to me as you're filling it out. Then I can try to answer what you need."

Mimi nodded, although she knew he couldn't see her. "Okay….for Kari's information…." She began to read off the questions, doing her best to keep from crying. The nurse next to her patted her shoulder encouragingly, then stepped back to the desk to help someone else. But Mimi was already beginning to feel better. Now that Izzy and Kari were at the hospital, they would be okay. She knew they would! And Tai would figure out what to do about the whole strange situation. Right?

After a few minutes of confusing information that, with some help from the nurse Michiko, managed to get down on the right line, Mimi stared at a finished piece of paperwork. She sighed in relief. "Now for Izzy's," she sighed. "Do you know his?"

"Um…no. I don't. But here is his parents number. I'll bet you that they'll go over there. And actually, that's not a bad idea. Why don't you have them come and do the paperwork, so that you don't have to worry about it?"

"I would like that," Mimi admitted. "Thanks. What's the number?" She scribbled it down on Izzy's paperwork as a contact number, then offered another 'thank you'. "I guess that means I'd better let you go…" she sighed, tears once again filling her eyes. She didn't want to say goodbye.

"Mimi, listen to me," Tai said urgently. "You're going to be alright. They are going to be alright. We have a major problem here, and you are the only one who can take care of them and make sure they are okay. You can do this Mimi…I know you can! And you'll be fine. You're a digidestined, remember?"

"I know….but….I'm so scared…." She choked on a sob. "I don't want to be alone!"

"You wont be. Call Izzy's parents. They will want to be with you too. And Mimi?"

"W-what?"

"Kari will be alone. Izzy will have his parents, but you will be the only one who can be there for her." He paused. "Will you…watch over her for me?"

Mimi wiped her eyes. She remembered how much Tai worried over his sister, to the point where he would sometimes lash out at people and not really notice that he was doing it. "Yes," she replied, trying to be strong. Her answer was as sincere as she could make it. "I will. Don't worry, Tai."

"Heh. Same to you. I have to go now. Okay?"

"Okay." Mimi said goodbye and hung up the phone. Her eyes were continuing to stream water, but she didn't feel as helpless as she had before. She was going to be alright. Hastily, she dialed Izzy's Mother's cell phone number and placed her pink phone to her ear. "Mrs. Izumi?" she asked, as soon as the call was answered. "This is Mimi Tachikawa. I'm a friend of Izzy's…"

"Oh hello Mimi! How are you? I haven't seen you in a while!" Mrs. Izumi's voice was kind and carefree, and Mimi hated to tell her the news.

"Well, I'm with Izzy right now….at the hospital…."

There was a distinct sound of the phone being dropped to the ground, and then quickly being picked up again. "What?" Mrs. Izumi demanded with a shriek. "What' wrong with Izzy?"

"Well….he fainted, and we were kind of worried about him. We don't know what's wrong," Mimi admitted, trying to stop her voice from shaking. She was so close to crying, but she didn't want to worry Izzy's Mom any more than she had to. "I was wondering if you could come to the hospital and fill out his paperwork? I'm sure everything will be fine….but I don't know how to do it…" This time Mimi did cry.

"I'm coming sweetie," Mrs. Izumi declared. "I'll be there right away!" She hung up the phone viciously, and left Mimi with a dead line.

"If she's going to be here, then I'll just hang onto this paperwork," Michiko said softly. She came up to Mimi, startling her, then patted her on the head. "Everything will be okay. Don't worry. Your friends are in good hands."

Mimi nodded, then burst into tears. Michiko handed her a box of tissues, and she took it gratefully. Still, she couldn't stop the flow. It was such an overwhelming situation.

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Half an hour later, Mrs. Izumi was done filling out the paper work, and had been escorted to Emergency Room 7 where Izzy was resting. Mimi had also been escorted to Emergency Room 8, where Kari was resting. And so far, they were still doing tests. Mimi sat on the lone chair by the hospital bed, fidgeting anxiously. Kari was as white as a bed sheet, and was burning up in a fever. Her breath was faint, almost as if she were not breathing at all, and the doctors had her on oxygen and an IV. She looked close to death.

"Kari hang in there," Mimi whispered, reaching out and placing a hand on Kari's arm. "Everyone is waiting for you to get better. You have to get better. You're stronger than this! Aren't you?" She sniffed. Kari looked so weak, and she probably couldn't even hear Mimi talking to her. "This is so stupid," Mimi sighed. "I don't understand what's happening! I walked through the door, and Izzy and you are both half-dead! What is going on? Why wont anyone tell me?"

Kari stirred slightly, and Mimi gasped. Was she waking up? Eagerly Mimi leaned forward, to let Kari know she was there, and Kari's eyes slowly opened. After a few blinks, she closed them again. "Hosptial?" she whispered.

"Yes," Mimi answered. "We were worried about you."

"What about Izzy?"

"He's here too. We don't know what's wrong with him." Mimi shivered. "I don't have any idea what's going on!"

Kari opened her eyes again, then turned her head to look at Mimi weakly. "I can tell you," she said quietly.

Mimi blinked in surprise. "You can?"

Kari nodded. "It's a digimon. He came to our world to stop us from helping the other digidestined."

"A…digimon? Stop us?" Mimi put a hand to her mouth in shock.

"It put a time field around Tai so that he couldn't tell anyone what was happening. I wanted to tell him, but I couldn't. The digimon wouldn't let me. Every time I said anything, it tried to kill me. So I had to come up with a riddle that might get across the same message." She sighed. "It was hard. But now that Izzy was able to stop the time field, I can say whatever I want without getting hurt." She sighed, and tears streamed down her face. "But…now Izzy is the one suffering. I don't know if he'll make it."

"Izzy…is suffering? Why?"

"The digimon is trying to kill him. Because Tai pulled him into the field, the digimon started attacking him. You can't see this digimon, and you can't feel his attacks, but they still hurt. Izzy will die if he doesn't get help."

"He's getting lots of help, here at the hospital," Mimi assured. She squeezed Kari's hand. "Don't worry. We're watching out for him." She stared at the sick girl in the hospital bed, then shivered. "But what are you talking about when you say the 'other' digidestined?"

Kari took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "There are other digidestined besides us…a different kind of digidestined. They can turn into digimon."

"WHAT?"

Kari opened one eye and looked at Mimi. "Don't be so loud. You'll attract attention." She closed her eye again. "This is secret stuff."

"Oh…sorry…." Mimi covered her mouth with her other hand. Digidestined that could turn into digimon? What kind of freakt, weird, creepy, strange, ridiculous phenomenon was this?

"Anyway…these digidestined are trying to stop an evil digimon called Lucemon from taking over the human world. But while they are fighting him, he is sending other digimon here to wreck havoc. So because we are the only ones who can see the digimon, he sent someone to stop us before we can do anything." Kari sighed again. "And he almost succeeded."

"But how do you know all of this?"

"I saw it while I was sleeping."

Mimi opened her mouth, then closed it again. Kari was making no sense. How could she see these things? And why? She shook her head to clear her mind. This was insane. "What are we supposed to do?" she demanded. "Now that the time warp is gone, we can fight, right?"

"I suppose so." Kari turned her head, settling down to fall asleep. "I am tired, Mimi. But I'm fine. Why don't you go visit Izzy? I think he needs to know everything I've just told you. It would make him feel better." She yawned widely. "I think he'd like to know…that he…stopped….disaster……." she fell asleep, never finishing her sentence.

Slowly Mimi nodded, let go of her hand, and stood up. Kari was right. Izzy would like to know. Mimi walked over to the next room, peeking inside before entering, and stood next to Mrs. Izumi.

"Oh Mimi," Mrs. Izumi sighed sadly. "What is going on? How did this happen?" She clasped Izzy's hand in hers as tightly as she could, and stared down at her dying boy. He was white, like Kari, but somehow he looked thinner than he had before. Gray circles were under his eyes, and his cheeks looked sunken in. And just like Kari, he was sweating in a terrible fever. It was unlike anything Mimi had ever seen.

"Mrs. Izumi," Mimi said softly. She walked closer and placed a hand on Izzy's arm. "Izzy is being attacked by a digimon."

Mrs. Izumi's eyes widened in horror. "Oh no!" she gasped. "Not again! No! Please tell me it's not true!"

"It is true," Mimi sighed. "I'm sorry. Your son saved us all from a terrible destruction, and now a digimon that we can't see is attacking him until he dies. He's a hero." Her eyes filled with tears. "I just wish that I could stop this stupid digimon, so that Izzy can get better. This sickness isn't normal!"

It was at that moment that Izzy chose to open his eyes. He stared blankly at the ceiling, blinking, then turned his head to see his Mom. "You…" he whispered. "You're here…."

"Yes honey," Mrs. Izumi said, squeezing his hand tighter. "I'm right here, and I'm going to make sure that you're okay. I wont let that digimon hurt you, even if I can't see it."

"Digimon?" Izzy's eyes clouded over, and he struggled in the bed for a second. "Yes…" he gasped, "there is a digimon here….he's attacking me. I can't feel it!"

"Where are the attacks coming from?" Mimi demanded, clenching her hands into fists. "I'll stop him! Hurry, where are they coming from?"

Izzy turned his head and stared at her. "Mimi?" he asked. His face brightened considerably. "You're here too?"

Mimi blinked, surprised. "Um…yes, I am! I came with you to the hospital."

"Oh…thanks!" Izzy closed his eyes, a smile on his face. "I'm so glad Tai's dream wasn't true….I can't picture you gutting anyone, let alone me…."

Mimi shrieked. "WHAT KIND OF COMMENT IS THAT?" she demanded. "Why would you say something like that? OF COURSE NOT!" She stopped yelling, then blinked. "Wait, Tai had a dream that I gutted you?"

Izzy's smile widened, and he chuckled weakly. "Yeah…really dumb, huh? It was….funny….." he faded out of consciousness, leaving both Mrs. Izumi and Mimi waiting for him to say more.

"Oh Izzy…." Mrs. Izumi cried. She held his hand to her face. "I can't lose him Mimi! I can't!"

Mimi nodded, thoroughly confused. Here Izzy was dying, yet all he could talk about was Tai's weird dream. And knowing Tai, of _course _it was weird. She sniffed and patted Izzy's arm, noticing that he was still smiling his adorable smile. "I know," Mimi offered tearfully. "But I wont let it happen. I wont! I'll do everything in my power to make sure he's alright. I promise!"

A bright light suddenly filled the room, and Mimi gasped out loud. What was going on? For an instant she could see anything at all, but then the light cleared, leaving her staring open-mouthed at the sight before her. A digimon that looked something between a ghoul and a floating snake was blowing attack after attack on Izzy, its attacks seeming to enter through Izzy's skin and attack him from the inside. Only the oxygen and the IV were keeping him alive.

Mimi gasped, pointing her hand at the offending beast in horror, and then screamed in rage. She threw herself upon it, scratching it with her beautiful nails and yelling at it in anger. It hissed and turned its attacks on her instead. "That wont stop me you horrible beast!" she screamed. "How dare you attack Izzy! How dare you try to kill him! Why if I were a digimon too, you'd already be dead! Go back where you came from and never return, you hear? NEVER!"

The digimon hissed in agony, squirming from her grasp, and then vanished out of sight. For a second Mimi could only stand there, seething, but a touch on her arm made her turn around. "Mimi?" Mrs. Izumi asked, shock in her voice. Mimi stared at her blankly. "What were you doing?"

"The digimon," Mimi said with a frown. Couldn't Mrs. Izumi see it? Or was it just Mimi? She felt herself growing faint, as if something inside her were eating her up. She felt so weak…and so hungry. What did it mean? "I made it leave. It's not attacking Izzy anymore." She turned toward the door, then felt her knees buckle under her. Was she really that tired? Or did the digimon's attacks hurt her that much? She hadn't noticed.

"Mimi!" Mrs. Izumi shrieked. She grabbed Mimi by the shoulders and pushed the Call button. "Mimi darling, just hang on! You'll be alright!"

"I know," Mimi sighed. She felt her eyes closing. "Izzy will be alright…." She glanced out the door and just caught a glimpse of Kari standing outside before her eyes closed completely. Kari? What was she doing out of bed? She couldn't think anything else, because she had slipped into unconsciousness. But somewhere at the back of her mind, Kari and the bright light seemed to have a connection. Now if she could only figure out what……

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Okay, that's it. Not what you expected? Oh well. I had to do it, cause otherwise the story would not have made sense. Now I'll REALLY go back to Tai's perspective next chapter. I promise.

Leave me a review! And God bless you!

Rika195


	9. Question of Psyche

Am I Dreaming?

Not anymore.

Chapter 9

-

-

Thanks to these reviewers!

You guys make this thing happen!

**Tshk**

**Crimson mist**

**Sapphire Dragoness**

**Vigatus**

**-**

**- **

Okay peoples.

You've been asking questions for a long time.

And I've only been giving you a piece at a time.

This is much bigger than you think it is, bwa ha ha!

Or is the "evil laugh" mwa ha ha?

You tell me.

Now let's get this show on the road!

-

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**Disclaimer**: I don't own Digimon or its characters

**Focus**: Taichi Kamiya, age: 16

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_Foolish humans. Your world will be mine! And not even you worthless digidestined can stop me. So what if you stopped the time field? You are too late. TOO LATE! Ha ha ha ha ha!!!_

The creepy voice range through Tai's mind link a gong, throbbing like a terrible migraine or something worse. It wouldn't leave, growing louder and louder, laughing at him in triumph. It was all Tai could do to keep from screaming in agony. The floor seemed to fall out from under his feet, and with a yelp, he jerked upright and grabbed the nearest thing to him. It just happened to be Matt's arm, and he grabbed it with such force that Matt gave out a yelp too.

"Jeez…you trying to cut the circulation off? Or bruise me? If yes, you're doing a good job!" Matt groaned and tried to shake Tai's grip, giving his friend an annoyed glare. "What's your problem anyway?" He had been staring at the door listlessly, and being suddenly grabbed shocked him half to death.

Tai shivered, forced his hand to let go of Matt's arm, and took a few deep breaths. He felt like he'd just run a marathon, and he couldn't quite shake a feeling of terror. It seemed that while waiting for the others to arrive, Tai had fallen asleep on his feet. "Um…" he stated dully. "I….had a weird dream."

Matt still was annoyed. He crossed his arms, giving a sharp sigh. "Didn't this whole mess start from a dream?" he asked pointedly.

Tai glared at him, not amused. "I don't want to talk about it," he snapped.

"Well you're going to have to, cause TK and the others are here now." Matt answered just as sharply, and pointed to the door as it burst open. A flood of teens rushed in at top speed, only just remembering to take off their shoes."

"Kari! And Izzy!" TK and Davis blurted at exactly the same moment. They glanced at each other in annoyance momentarily. "Are they okay?"

"As far as we know," Matt said seriously. He ignored Tai for the moment, and went over what he knew. "Mimi is with them at the hospital, and so are Izzy's parents. I'm sure it will be fine. There are lots of good doctors there." He sighed and glanced around to see who all was there, and Tai followed suit, trying hard to forget the strange voice that had gone through his head seconds ago.

TK and Davis were panting, and both of them wore expressions of extreme worry and determination. Tai couldn't help sighing tiredly. He knew that both of them liked his sister, and he thought that both boys were great guys, but he really didn't want anyone getting close to his sister, regardless of who they were. So it was kind of annoying that both of them were so obsessed over her. At least TK was discreet. Davis, on the other hand, still proclaimed how much he adored Kari for the world to hear.

Yolei and Ken both stood next to each other, staring wordlessly at everyone else. They were both clearly upset. Yolei looked like she wanted to rip the world apart to figure out how to solve the problem, while Ken had that dazed glint in his eyes that meant his mind was once again working like a super-computer to figure out what to do next. Tai gave a sigh of relief. If anyone could help them figure out what Izzy had figured out, it was Ken.

Cody stood behind everyone, a worried yet patient expression on his face. It seemed to Tai that he was waiting for everyone to get the whole story out before he made any kind of opinion, and would probably be there to calm everyone down when they got overly anxious or zealous. In particular, Yolei. He seemed to have a special gift for being able to calm people down, and Tai already felt comforted to have him around. He was a great kid.

"Well are you going to tell us everything?" Davis blurted, shooting Tai an annoyed glare.

Tai snapped out of his thoughts, and offered a nod. He pointed to the couch, and as many people as could fit sat down upon it. Ken took Izzy's chair and glanced at the open laptop, an instant frown spreading across his face. From what Tai knew, that could either mean he was confused at something, or he was upset with what he found. In this case, probably both. "I guess I should be the one to explain all this," he sighed, rubbing his face with his hands. He really hated having to be the leader sometimes.

"Yes," Matt agreed, frowning. He joined TK and Davis on the couch, while the other three sat on the floor. Tai stayed standing. "There's a lot I don't understand…stuff you and Izzy kept saying that didn't make sense. Let's hear the full story."

The others looked on in agreement.

Tai took a deep breath, filling his lungs with air, and then exhaled loudly. "I guess this all started with a dream," he said, shrugging. "And I'll tell this as fast as I can."

"Good, cause I wanna go to the hospital," Davis cut in, twitching restlessly.

Tai glared at him to shut up, but couldn't help feeling the same sentiment. He still felt—no, knew—that Izzy's current situation was probably his fault. He felt like all of this was his fault. "Izzy called a meeting here at my house during your soccer meet, between me and him. He told me he had something important to say. When he got here, he began to tell me about another group of digidestined. But before he could get any further, I suddenly found myself dreaming. I didn't know it was a dream though, and it seemed so real. Then I woke up." Tai shivered, trying to get the image of Mimi disemboweling Izzy out of his head. "Izzy was annoyed that I fell asleep, and told me that he had called Mimi and Matt to come too. So I told him about my dream, and when Matt and Mimi came, I told them about it too."

"Hang on, that's not what happened," Matt frowned. "What happened was…"

"Matt…." Tai sighed and rubbed his eyes. "You wouldn't know. Shut up." He sighed again, thankful that Matt didn't press it, and kept talking. "But before anything else could happen I woke up again. It had been a dream. Izzy was annoyed with me, and told me that since I had fallen asleep on him talking to me, he called Matt and Mimi to come too. So I told him about my dream, and when Matt and Mimi came, I told them about it too. Only it happened EXACTLY as my dream had; the entire conversation."

"Creepy," Cody nodded.

"Wait a second…you mean like deva ju?" Davis raised both his eyebrows. Ever since seeing the Matrix, he loved to use that term. Only he always said it wrong.

"It's déjà vu," Davis," TK rolled his eyes.

"Like I care, T3," Davis couldn't help smirking. The two exchanged irked glances, and then turned back to Tai to go on.

"Anyway," Tai continued, "I woke up again, and the exact same thing happened. I was beginning to get annoyed. Every time the scene repeated itself, I got more freaked out, and worried Izzy more and more. Matt, Mimi, and Izzy all did not remember everything. They insisted that I was dreaming, although they thought it was weird. But then I would wake up, and it would happen again. So I decided to get Izzy to help me. I had him record the entire conversation, and when the whole thing repeated again, he looked it up on his computer and found it. After that, he believed me. So I asked him to help me out and figure out what was going on.

"Izzy discovered that a time field had been placed around me, and that no one knew what was happening except me. Well….me and Kari." Tai sighed. How did Kari know all this was happening anyway? "You see, she was sick, and stayed home to rest. And she kept having these cryptic dreams about the time field, and tried to tell me about it. Through her dreams, I was able to convince Izzy what was going on. Anyway, when Izzy found the time field, he promised to help me figure it out. And then the time came for everything to go back in time again, and I freaked out. I grabbed Izzy's arm and pulled him into the time field with me. And don't ask how I did it, cause I don't know."

"Interesting," Ken mused, mostly to himself. But he was staring at Izzy's computer, not Tai.

"When Izzy realized that he was now in the same boat I was, he got to work to try and stop it. It was a digital time field, and could be stopped from his computer if he worked fast enough. The only problem was that he…as soon as he entered the time field with me…he started dying." Tai hung his head, feeling his emotions rush back to the surface. "Izzy…." He whispered. "Never thinking of himself...he worked so hard to stop it, and didn't say a word about how terrible he was feeling, or how scared he was that he was dying. And all I could do was stand there and stare at him, hoping I wouldn't have to pull him through the time field again."

The whole room had gone silent, and Tai felt the uncomfortable expressions from everyone else. They wanted to tell him it wasn't his fault, but they weren't even sure. They wanted to tell him that Izzy would be fine, but they didn't know that. And it hurt.

Tai forced himself to calm down, and took a deep breath. "Izzy stopped the time field," he said. "Matt and Mimi both came around the time that he stopped it, and both of them tried to help. But when Izzy became too weak, he blacked out. At that same time, Kari blacked out too. I was too much of an idiot to do anything except run to my room and cry, so I guess we were all lucky that Matt was there to step up." Tai lifted his head to give Matt a grateful smile.

Matt's expression seemed to blink to one of momentary confusion, as if he didn't actually realize how much Tai appreciated his being there, before switching back to his serious look.

"Matt sent Mimi to the hospital with Izzy and Kari, and then called you guys. I managed to get off my bum long enough to stand there uselessly, but thanks to him, I think that Izzy and Kari will be alright. The only thing we've got to worry about now is figuring out how to stop this entire mess. Cause it's not over yet." Tai began to shiver uncontrollably, remembering how cold and malicious the voice in his head had been. "An evil digimon is trying to take over our world and the digital world. Another group of digidestined are fighting him. They are different than we are. They don't have digimon partners, they turn _into _digimon. It's weird I know, but that's all Izzy was able to tell me before this whole mess. And I think that those digidestined are losing. We've got to help them before it's too late."

_It's already too late, worthless human. Quit wasting your time. You will all be destroyed soon anyway. _

The others must have noticed Tai's instantly shocked and horrified expression as soon as the voice entered his head. For they all leaned forward with worried expressions.

"You okay?" Matt asked quickly, standing up and walking over to Tai. He placed a hand on Tai's shoulder. "You look like you've just seen a ghost."

"Worse," Tai shivered, closing his eyes and trying to shake the feeling of doom. "I've just heard the voice of the evil digimon…for the second time within five minutes."

Matt stared at him blankly, doubt in his eyes, but then frowned angrily. "You mean he can listen to our conversation?" he blurted. "Just perfect. Who is this digimon anyway?"

"Lucemon."

Tai blinked, then turned to look at Ken. Everyone else in the room did too. Ken was holding Izzy's laptop in his lap, staring at it with a frown etched into his face. The black-haired teen raised his eyes to stare at Tai solemnly, and something about his expression made Tai feel like Ken was trying to tell him something without saying anything. "What?" he asked, unsure what else to say.

"His name is Lucemon. Izzy did some research on him, and discovered that a few years back, he tried to do the same thing he's doing now. Destroy both worlds, and rebuild another digital world that he controls. A group of six kids turned into digimon to fight him, and then were sent back. Apparently, from what Izzy has logged into his computer, these kids were called back by someone called Ophanimon, who was begging for their help. Lucemon found some way to return." Ken sighed, pushing hair out of his face, and glanced to make sure the others were following him. "You can ask questions later," he told Davis, offering a smirk at the clearly confused expression on Davis' face. "Anyway, it seems that these digidestined expected to be able to use the spirits of the legendary warriors to turn back into digimon, only they were unable to. They're failing, though they aren't dead yet. They need help. And that's all that Izzy has here." He glanced up. "Okay you can ask questions now."

No one did for a long time. Then Davis decided to burst the bubble of silence. "Okay wait, so these kids who turned into digimon can't turn into digimon anymore, and they're getting beaten up by an all-powerful digimon and almost dying, while Tai was put in a time field so that we wouldn't know what was happening, and then when Izzy—who was the only one who knew about these other digidestined—stopped it, he started dying, while at the same time Kari was sick and having dreams about the whole thing, and is dying just like Izzy, and now this very same evil digimon is speaking to Tai in his mind and probably telling him that everything is hopeless? Is it just me, or does this seem WAY too confusing?"

"I think that aptly sums it up," TK gave a chuckle that he didn't quite feel. "Though I don't understand something. Why was Tai the only one who knew what was happening?"

"I wasn't," Tai blurted, something clicking into place in his mind. "I think Kari knew all along, but she couldn't tell me because she was dying. Throughout every time those 25 minutes would repeat themselves, Kari was the only one who seemed to progress through time normally. She was getting worse and worse, and kept telling me more and more. So I wasn't the only one." He frowned and sighed. "I have to wonder why the time field was placed around me, and the rest of you didn't know. And why were Kari and Izzy dying?"

"There's always been something weird about your sister," Matt said slowly, looking like he was hoping Tai wouldn't take his words the wrong way and be offended. "I mean…not to sound mean or anything…but Kari's different." He looked ready to defend himself in case Tai punched him.

Tai stared at Matt with a frown, but something about Matt's words made him want to hear more. He'd defend Kari till the day he died, and he hated when people made comments like that about her. But Matt seemed to be going somewhere. So instead of lashing out, he crossed his arms and ordered, "Explain."

Matt cleared his throat. "Do you remember in the digital world all those years ago, when Kari got sick, and we all got separated from each other underground?" Tai nodded and TK nodded, while the others looked on in confusion. Matt continued. "All those numemon were working as slaves in a factory. And Kari, while unconscious, happened to glow with light and cause all their chains to disappear. And she healed herself too." Matt sighed. "After that, the numemon were calling her queen Kari. But I never forgot that story after Mimi told it to me. Kari seemed to make things happen without even moving. And that wasn't the only time either."

Tai's eye twitched, and he rubbed it absentmindedly. He had a sinking feeling that he knew where Matt was going, and he wasn't sure he wanted to hear it.

"A few years ago, Kari was sick again," Matt continued. "I was over at your house at the time, me and TK, and the three of us were playing a game. TK left the room for a moment, and you answered the phone, leaving just me sitting on the couch. That was when Kari came out to get a drink of water. I didn't remember that she wasn't supposed to be out of bed until she fell down. I was afraid you would come back to beat me up, so I picked her up and quickly brought her back to bed. She kept reassuring me she was fine, so I turned to leave. I glanced back while at the door, and saw something strange. Her eyes were closed, and she reached her hand out toward the table by the bed, and somehow, the washcloth ended up in her hand. I left the room before she put it over her head, thinking I was imagining things."

"Come on Matt," Yolei exclaimed, looking alarmed. "Are you trying to tell us that Kari is…"

"Another time," Matt interrupted, beginning to talk quicker. "I was hanging out over here, when Kari walked in the door. I was waiting for Tai to stop talking on the phone to his mom, and wondering if I should stay for dinner like Tai had invited me to. I happened to think to myself at that moment that Tai's Mom was probably going to cook us some of her 'liver grossarolla', when Kari walked over to me and giggled. 'Don't be ridiculous,' she told me, 'it's called liver casserolla, not grossarolla. And it's not as bad as her other inventions.' And I hadn't even said anything. Nothing. I'd been silent for the last few minutes." Matt stopped talking, and then shrugged his shoulders. "Look, I'm not into psyche stuff or anything, and I have trouble believing that it exists at all. But I think that Kari has to have some psychic powers or something. I mean…she can read minds…she can cause things to happen with her mind…she can see things before they happen….isn't that a little weird?" He turned to Tai and pointed to him. "And now you…you're hearing voices in your head, and you were the only other person besides Kari who knew that the time field was happening."

The room was silent for a moment, while a steadily growing feeling of uneasiness filled Tai's stomach. He took a breath of air, realizing he'd been holding his breath for a while, and dropped his arms. "I'm not psychic," he said darkly. "And neither is my sister. That's stupid. You know that doesn't exist. And we shouldn't even be worrying about that right now. We need to figure out how to stop Lucemon!"

"You're right, of course," Matt shrugged. "But you have to admit, it's a little weird."

"And YOU have to admit you've been reading too many sci-fi novels and watching too many movies," Tai snorted. "Now come on guys! We need ideas!"

"I have an idea," Davis said. He ignored the almost audible groans of everyone around him. "And this time it's not a stupid one."

"We'll decide that," Ken smirked at him playfully.

Davis simply rolled his eyes. "I say we go to the hospital to visit Izzy and Kari, and find out what they know. Cause we're stronger when we work together," he said, clenching his hand in a fist and throwing it in the air determinedly. "Then we'll get out the good old digivices and head to the digital world!"

Tai stared at him blankly for a moment. "Actually that's not bad." He looked around. "Ken, what do you think?"

"I think I want to talk to do more research on Izzy's computer, but I don't feel right about it," he offered, looking guilty. "I'd like to go to the hospital and talk to him. At least to get his permission to use this."

"I think we should send some of us to the digital world right now," Yolei said, standing up proudly. "We need to help those other digidestined! If it's just them, with no spirits and no partners, then how can they fight? They're probably half dead right now! Or worse, dead already!"

"I think we need to have a base camp," TK stated. "And I don't think it should be on the digital world."

"I don't know….I can't think of anything better to do than what's already been said," Matt offered. "I think we should send some people to scout out the digital world, and Ken probably should go to the hospital to visit Izzy. But I think we shouldn't all go. Some of us should stay here."

Tai gave a non-committal nod and turned to Cody. "What do you think?" he asked.

Cody looked perplexed. He had been looking like that for some time now. Slowly he lifted his head to look at Tai, and then gave a small sigh. "I think there's something we're missing," he said slowly. "Something doesn't seem right. I'm not sure what it is, but I think it has to do with the other digidestined. And until I can figure out what is bothering me, I don't think I can off any helpful opinions." He shrugged. "Sorry."

Tai nodded. "Well, I think everyone has made some good points. Here's the plan: leaving people here is a waste of time. Sorry Matt. So half of us will go to the hospital, and the rest will go to the digital world and keep us informed. But we'll go to the hospital first. Okay?"

Everyone looked at him blankly, as if weighing his plan in their minds. But they couldn't come up with any obvious flaws. Cody still looked perplexed, but made no objection. So it was unanimously decided, using no spoken means, that Tai's plan was as good as they could get right now.

"Well then, let's go!" Davis said, leaping up. He was the first one to the door.

Tai watched everyone head outside, then turned to glance back at his house. He wondered to himself why it had to happen like this…why he couldn't have done something about it sooner. Why did he have to get all helpless? Why did Izzy and Kari have to suffer? And what if Matt was right? What did that mean? He shivered, then walked out the door.

_Useless, _the voice of Lucemon spoke to him again, taunting him. _But amusing nonetheless. I will have this world…and not even you can stop me. _

"Not _even _me?" Tai mumbled under his breath. "What can I do that anyone else can't?" he shoved his shoes on, ignored Matt's weirded out and concerned look, and made his way down the stairs toward the street. He was just Tai…just a hot head who always seemed to make more mistakes than he could count, and whatever he did right happened by accident. What could he possibly do to stop an evil digimon who could read his mind? He tried not to let the weight of despair take over, but he didn't succeed. It just seemed so useless.

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Yes, I have finally continued this story.

And I'll bet you weren't expecting that at all, were you?

Yes….things are going to get a lot crazier. And don't worry….you'll see the Frontier kids soon. This is me who's writing the story, remember? The Frontier kids are one of my favs. I have trouble not adding them in.

Please review and tell me what you think. Your reviews keep this story alive.

Seriously.

Why do you think it took so long to get updated?

God bless you!

--Rika195


	10. First Step

**Am I Dreaming?**

(…I dunno, are you?)

…Chapter 10

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-

To all of my AWESOME readers and reviewers:

**Vigatus**

**MY girl**

**Sapphire Dragoness**

**Tristar**

**Crazy With Happiness**

**LittleFirefly44**

**Matt**

**One Hit Wonder**

**Martiny**

**Rubberman2025**

**Beth**

**MeLaNY8**

THANK you so much! From the bottom of my heart! I am so excited and honored by your reviews. You were the reminders that kept me going.

-

-

_Actually I don't really believe in all that psyche stuff. But it is very fun to write about, isn't it?_

-

-

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**Disclaimer**: I do not own digimon, or time travel.

**Focus**: Taichi Kamiya, age: 16

(------)

Tai walked into Izzy's room, clenching his hands into fists. He was trying to remain calm about this entire situation, but it really wasn't working. He was stressed, upset, freaked out, and angry. And all of that emotional turmoil added together was more than he could handle. Why couldn't things just be simple like they used to be when he was a kid?

Izzy sat up when the group entered the room. "You guys are here?" he asked tiredly, still looking gaunt and pale, but a whole lot better. He wore a very worried expression, however. "What are you doing here? You should be at the digital world!"

"We came here first," Davis stated proudly, probably unaware that he was both stating the obvious, and repeating what Izzy just said.

"Yeah, but why?" Izzy scowled.

Tai rolled his eyes and decided to be the one to answer. "We wanted to make sure you were alright, and then discuss plans. You seem to know the most about this digimon, and despite the fact that Ken is intelligent enough to figure stuff out on his own, he wanted to come here and ask you questions. So…here we are." He spread his hands out to the sides, indicating the group, and shrugged. "Now to decide who's going and where."

Izzy gave a little "ah", half-heartedly, and laid back down on the bed. "Just what I need," he grumbled. "All my friends seeing me in a hospital gown."

Davis laughed out loud and patted Izzy's shoulder. "That's the spirit," he teased. "So tell us what you think!"

"Personally?" Izzy glared at the little squirt, "I think you should go check on Mimi. She tried to attack the digimon who was attacking me and Kari, and now she's lying on a hospital bed too. My Mom is with her…"

"What?" Matt exclaimed. "What's this about a digimon attacking?"

Izzy sighed and closed his eyes. "Didn't you wonder what was killing Kari and me? It was an invisible digimon, attacking us. Mimi saw it, and started attacking it with her hands. It left Kari and me alone, and then turned on her. But, according to Mimi, she scared it off. I still think she's in bad shape…it attacked her a lot harder."

"Makes sense," Ken commented dryly. "She was the more serious threat."

"Exactly." Izzy sighed. "Tai, I think you can figure out who to send. Just ask Ken to see if he can track down where the trouble is, and transport yourselves nearby. At least do something!"

"Send a scout," TK agreed. "Davis and I can go. We'll get a hold of our digimon, and then let you guys know where to meet us."

"Sounds good," Tai shrugged. He glanced at Ken. "Can you do that?"

Ken glanced at Izzy, and getting no response, nodded and got to work on Izzy's laptop.

That left Tai feeling anxious again. There had to be something more he could do! After all, he couldn't help feeling like all of this was his fault. He was the only one who knew that they had been caught in a time loop—well, he and Kari. But now he just felt useless. It was frustrating!

"Don't beat yourself up, Tai," Izzy said from his bed. He met Tai's frustrated look calmly. "You worked very hard to get me to figure out what was happening, and if not for that, we'd never know this attack was happening in the first place. You should feel proud, not upset."

"Proud?" Tai blurted. He ignored everyone's looks as they turned and pinned them on him. "You, Mimi, and Kari nearly died. Why should that make me proud?"

"Can you snap out of it, please?" Matt groaned. "Seriously, why do you always do this? It's not all about you, okay? Just deal with the situation at hand as best you can, and don't stop to beat yourself up about things you can't change!"

Blinking, Tai tried to focus on Matt's words. He was right…this wasn't helping. Funny how Matt always took him by surprise with his straight down logic. "You're right," he droned, and tried to follow his advice. It was much easier said than done, and still, he could only focus on his frustrations.

Ken raised a fist in the air in quiet excitement, and looked up. "Got it," he said quietly. He could be so mellow sometimes…the complete opposite from the Digimon Emperor he used to be.

"Got what?" Matt demanded.

"I've located three of the digidestined, and opened a portal so that we can go to them. I think it's best to split up into six groups so we can reach all of them. They're dying, remember? And there's six of them."

"Have you contacted our digimon?" Izzy asked. "We can't fight without them."

"A good point," Matt agreed.

Ken nodded. "Yes, they're all okay, and they're waiting for us. They haven't been fighting because they've been waiting for us, and they can't digivolve without us." He shrugged. "Split us up, Tai, and send us out."

Tai sucked in a breath of air, and made a quick headcount. Ken, Matt, Davis, TK, Yolei, Cody, Sora, Joe, and himself. Izzy, Mimi, and Kari were unable to go. How would he split them up? He himself was reluctant to go, and figured it would be best for him to wait until the other three digidestined were found. He might as well send out three teams now.

"Davis, you and Ken can go on the first team," he said slowly, then held up his hand at Ken's open mouth. "Don't protest. Izzy seems stable now, and we need everyone we've got."

Ken chewed his lower lip in frustration, but nodded. He handed Izzy the computer and looked sidelong at Davis. "I guess we'll go for the first one."

Davis nodded.

"Yolei and Cody, you two can get the second one," Tai continued. The two stood next to each other and nodded. "Sora, you and Joe can find the third one. Once you find them all," he said, addressing everyone, "try to meet back together at a safehouse or something. The rest of us will go as soon as Izzy find the last three. Got it?"

"Got it," nearly everyone replied in unison. They held out their digivices and Izzy typed in the code, and vanished from sight in a flash of light.

Tai let out a sigh of relief and turned to the two brothers. "TK, You and Matt will go next," he said. "Then we'll remake the teams to find the others. I'll join you as soon as I can."

"Why? Where are you going?" Matt demanded.

"I need to talk to Kari," Tai frowned. "It's important. I'll join you when I can, okay? Izzy will keep us all informed."

Izzy smiled weakly. "Yup!" he said, trying to look cheerful. "I'll call your mom, Tai, and she can come and bother the nurses so they cant take my computer away."

Tai chuckled, picturing his mother doing just that. "She'd love it," he agreed. Then stepped toward the door. "Head out as soon as you find the next one," he called back, and then went straight to Kari's room.

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Kari looked awfully small and weak, lying silently still upon the hospital bed. She was covered in blankets like she couldn't keep warm, and a cool cloth was placed over her eyes. Tai crept in as quietly as he could, stealing into a chair beside her, and felt a pang of guilt in his guts. Why hadn't he paid closer attention to her? He should have known that she was far more than just sick. What if she had died?

A faint smile flickered across her mouth. "I wouldn't have died, Tai," she whispered. "I'm too stubborn for that."

Tai started in surprise, but then got over it and placed his large warm hand over her small, chill one. "Keep on being stubborn," he said quietly. "I can't afford to lose you."

Kari lifted part of the cloth away from one eye with her free hand, staring at him through a glassy, tired expression. "Trust me, I wont," she said. "I've seen the day I die and it's not until I'm much older."

Tai stiffened at her words, thinking back on what Matt said earlier. Could it be true?

Dropping her hand, Kari chuckled. "Yes," she said. "It is." After a pause, she placed her cold hand over his, making a sandwich between both hands. "Does that make me a freak in your eyes? That I've got psychic powers?" Another chuckle escaped her lips.

"You've always been freaky," Tai teased, but he felt cold inside. After a long moment of drawn out silence, he sighed. "Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"You wouldn't have believed me," she replied simply.

It hurt him to realize that it was true. He wouldn't have. "Sorry," he shrugged. Then he frowned. "Wait…Kari…do I…? Have I got it too?"

"I don't know. Do you?"

Thinking back on the chill words inside his head from the digimon Lucemon, Tai shivered. "I think so…a little bit at least. But not like you. I can't read what's in people's heads."

"Maybe you've just never tried."

That too, made him feel weird. He hadn't tried. But he would have if he'd thought he was able to. Sighing, he rubbed his eyes with his other hand. "Kari, what are we going to do?"

"What we always do. We're going to save the digital world. Do you doubt it?"

_You should, _came the taunting, sneering voice of the evil digimon. _This time I know what to expect, and exactly how to fight it. Your stupid little friends are falling into my trap. _

Kari's eyes flew open, her body shuddering. The monitor that displayed her heart rate began to go wild, her breathing coming in gasps, and Tai struggled to calm her down. After the first initial moment, she seemed to find control, collapsing weakly back into the bed with a faint cry.

Tai clasped her hand in his, tightly. "You hear him too?" he whispered.

Kari nodded, throwing her cool cloth aside and looking straight at him. "I could only hear him through your head, not in my own. It was…horrible…" she shuddered again. "How can you bear it? Hearing his voice in your mind like claws down a chalkboard…"

"Calm down," Tai instructed, glancing at the monitor. "It's okay. He can't do anything to me, just talk to me."

"And hear everything we say!" Kari blurted. "Everything! He knows it all! Tai… you can't let him do this!"

"CALM," Tai ordered, exasperated. "I wont let him, ok? I promise. We'll figure something else out. We'll just not speak, if that's what we have to do."

_As if that would help you. _

Both siblings shivered.

"I fear it may already be too late…to stop disaster from happening," Kari whimpered. "He'll win this round for sure."

"Kari…." Tai argued. "He wont! I wont let him!"

"He will!" Kari wailed, her eyes wide. But then she smiled, shaking her head very slowly in a definite "no". "He knows what to expect."

_Finally, someone gets the idea, _Lucemon's voice chuckled.

And Tai smiled grimly. He was catching on. Lucemon could hear what was in his mind, but he could not see through his eyes. They had a way of tricking him. Make false plans and say them out loud, then change them through writing to each other on their digivices.

Kari was right. They could defeat him.

Smiling, Tai nodded. "I can't just give up," he said aloud. "Even if he can hear us, he can't defeat us. We'll never stop fighting."

"Be careful," Kari whispered, eyes wide with fright she barely contained. "He could kill you."

"I'll be careful," Tai insisted. He stood and walked toward the door. "I just have to stop by and check on Mimi and Izzy, then I'll be back. I wont leave you, Kari. I can't."

"Tai…" Kari pleaded. "They need you…"

"Not as much as you need me right now," he insisted, winking. "I wont leave you. I can't."

Then he turned and marched out, determination in his steps. He would defeat Lucemon… if it was the last thing he did!

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Sorry it's short, but hey, it's an update! Thanks for your patience. I'll update more soon!

Rika195


	11. The Plan

**Am I Dreaming?**

(…I dunno, are you?)

…Chapter 11

.

To all of my AWESOME readers and reviewers:

**MeLaNY8**

**Martiny the one and only still**

**Lissa against Gravity**

**Rubberman2025**

**Kai-Chan94**

Thank you so much! It was because I owe it to you to continue this story, and because of your support and reviews, that I have finally sat down to write this chapter. I am sorry it took me so stinking long.

.

_Actually I don't really believe in all that psyche stuff. But it is very fun to write about, isn't it? Dang, if only it were real! It would be so fun to be psychic…_

_.  
_

**Disclaimer**: I do not own digimon, psychic abilities, or time travel.

.

**Focus**: Kouji Minamoto, age: 13

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Kouji pressed his back up against the foot of a cliff, calming his breathing before leaning and peering around the corner. His figure was shrouded in the dust from the last wave of attacks, keeping him hidden from enemy eyes. But it did the same for them. Scowling, he pulled back and assessed his situation.

He had already lost his Legendary Warrior form of Lobomon, having lost the strength to maintain it, and he was covered in bruises, scrapes, burns and slashes from head to toe. If he didn't die from Lucemon's attacks, he'd probably die from blood loss. "I can't go on like this," he hissed under his breath. "No weapon, no strength…" he paused, then grimaced as once again, his fractal code flickered up around him. "And that keeps happening," he sighed. Taking a deep breath, he concentrated with all his might until it went away. "Who knew I could bleed and still have a fractal code," he rolled his eyes. But that was the digital world for you.

Kouji sighed as he turned and peered into the floating dust throughout the battleground. Lucemon was winning this battle, there was no doubt. Ever since the six kids had returned to the digital world and the Legendary Warriors gave their fractal codes so that they could transform, Lucemon had been one step ahead of them. He knew their attacks, their strengths, and their weaknesses. No matter what they tried, he crushed them effortlessly. They were fighting a losing battle from the start.

Now, the six of them were separated. Kouji didn't know where anyone else was! They could be dead, for all he knew, and he could be next! He gritted his teeth and clenched his hands into fists. No, Kouji Minamoto would not go down easily, he doubted that any of the others would too. They _would _defeat Lucemon! They had to!

Kouji started, surprised when his d-tector started buzzing in his hand, and held it close to his face. A message had been sent to him! Cautious, he read it as quickly as he could. It said: _Fellow digidestined, we know about your battle! We are digidestined too, and we can help you fight. Do you need assistance? _

Kouji glanced down at himself, taking in his wounds and blood-stained clothing, and then at the fractal code that kept trying to appear. "Heck yeah," he mumbled, typing in the word "yes". He didn't think much else had to be said.

A few seconds later, a response arrived: _We've located three of you, and we have three teams of two coming to your locations. _

Kouji nodded. It would work, until they could all regroup. Wasting no time, he typed, "we'll wait to attack till you get here" and pressed send. Sighing, he stuffed it back in his pocket and looked out from his hiding place. Somewhere out there, he could hear Lucemon laughing. "We'll see who's laughing," he growled, "when I'm through with you." He only hoped the reinforcements didn't take too long.

Suddenly, a flash of light blared out next to him, and two kids his age appeared out of nowhere. With them were two digimon in rookie forms. Seeing them, Kouji didn't know whether to be furious, or disappointed. He stepped toward them, scowling.

"Whoa…" one of them said, whistling as he studied Kouji's battle-battered body. "I guess it's bad, huh?"

Kouji's scowl deepened. "Is this some kind of a joke?" he growled. If the hair on the back of his neck could bristle, it would have been doing just that. "A couple of kids and some rookie digimon?"

"Hey now," the one who'd spoken before said, frowning and stepping forward. "We're digidestined. We don't _look _like warriors, okay? But that doesn't mean we're useless." He paused then cleared his throat. "I'm Davis, and this is Ken. These are our digimon…"

Kouji cut him off. "I can see what kind of digimon they are," he snapped, bored. "In fact I can see an entire readout of their data, species, family, genus, evolutions, attacks and everything else. Announcing your digimon is the _last_ thing you need to do!"

The one named Ken's eyes widened considerably. "You can see all that just by looking at them?" He blurted. "How is that possible?"

At that moment, Kouji's fractal code flickered up around him, and he huffed in annoyance. "Not again," he groaned, concentrating and pulling it back in. When he was done, he glanced up and noticed that all four of them, kids and digimon alike, were staring at him with their mouths open. Kouji sighed loudly. "I can turn into a digimon, okay? Now let's talk about what we need to do!"

"Right!" Davis agreed, instantly ready to jump into action. His Veemon grinned excitedly and echoed his cry of "Right!".

"I mean…I knew you could turn into a digimon but…a fractal code when you're NOT a digimon?" Ken blurted, dubious. "It blows the mind…"

Davis gave him a pointed look, cleared his throat, and then spoke. "We know that the digimon you're fighting's name is Lucemon, and that he's fought you guys before, and knows what to expect. But we heard you couldn't turn into digimon anymore."

"We don't really know anything else," Kem added, "except that the six of you fighting him are…" he paused and studied Kouji's many wounds "…dying. So we're here to fight with you and bring help where we can."

"We can still Spirit Evolve, if that's what you're wondering. You must have heard wrong. And how are you expecting to help?" Kouji demanded. "Can you fight?"

"We do," Veemon said proudly, puffing up his chest. Wormmon nodded slowly. "And these guys make us digivolve to really high levels!"

"Like Megas?" Kouji asked, feeling somewhat hopeful.

"Well…" Veemon's face fell. "No…"

Davis quickly cut in. "We can do one better." He grinned, then pulled out his digivice. "I still have the data from that golden egg thing!"

Ken mumbled its real name under his breath, but no one else really cared.

"What does that do?" Kouji asked. Better than a mega? That was good…

"It does THIS!" Davis took a deep breath, and Ken slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Wait," Ken ordered. "We need to plan, first. Save that till we need it."

"I'm with him," Kouji nodded. "We need to find Takuya, Kouichi and the others and discuss strategies. And if you guys are here to help us…maybe could you get us…I dunno, first aid stuff? A band aid or two?" He paused, glaring at his fractal code, then sucked it back in. "And maybe something to eat?"

Ken and Davis nodded slowly.

"Then get it. I'm going…" He slowly slid down to the ground, his final leg of energy nearly nonexistent, and hung his aching head. "I'm going to just sit down for a little while. Tell me when…" he paused, then started again. "Let me know if any of these three things happen: If you find Takuya, if you get some food and first aid stuff, or if the dust finally settles. That means it's fighting time again."

"We'll let you know," Ken said quietly, and he and Davis walked a few steps away to talk and type messages on their digivices. Even as he was drifting off into a half-sleep state, Kouji could hear what they whispered to each other.

"Dang, do you see those wounds?" Davis whispered loudly. "It looks like something out of a movie. How can he keep standing, let alone fighting?"

"Did you see that fractal code?" Ken replied. "I've never seen anything like it! I mean, I knew they were different but…it just seems wrong somehow…"

"Who cares about that! Care about how we're going to win this fight! If these guys who have fought him before can't defeat him, what can we possibly do that they haven't tried?"

"Well…they didn't have you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Davis, you're just different. Somehow, you'll do something stupid and then we'll suddenly win. That's just how you work."

Kouji gave a half-hearted chuckle, his eyes finally closing against his will. "Just like Takuya," he whispered. And his world went black.

.

**Focus**: Takuya Kanbara, age: 13

.

Takuya panted heavily, trying to force himself back onto his feet. He got about to his hands and knees, before giving up and collapsing on his face again. "This is retarded!" he moaned. Then hoped Lucemon didn't hear it. But since the guy was just laughing maniacally right now, and wasn't attacking till the dust died down, he figured he could rest for a minute or two. "Just one minute," he mumbled. "Then I'll get up…"

Several minutes later, he heard voices.

"He should be around here…"

"Wait, I see something. Is that a fractal code?"

Takuya looked up, propping himself up on his elbows to peer through the dust at the voices. A tall girl and a boy who looked a couple years younger than her walked up to him. "Who are you?" he asked, confused. "You don't look like Zoe or Tommy…" he frowned. "You're _not _Zoe or Tommy! Who are you?"

The girl gasped. "Oh my gosh! The fractal code is coming from HIM!"

Takuya blinked, then glanced over his shoulder. Sure enough, the purple circle of data was revolving around him. He groaned. "Oh please! Not again!" He focused on sucking it in, then sighed dramatically when it was finally done. Then, seeing as there were people here, he forced himself up onto his feet. "I'm Takuya," he said dizzily. "You?"

The girl covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes wide.

So the younger boy spoke for her. "This is Yolei, and I'm Cody. We're digidestined, and we're here to help you. We have digimon with us."

"Well that's good news," Takuya said, brightening considerably. "We could sure use the help! Lucemon is pretty much killing us right now," he sighed and hung his head, then gasp and looked up again. "Oh no! Zoe!" And without thinking, he dashed out into the dust to look for her. Perhaps it was instinct, or perhaps it was just dumb luck. But somehow he found his way to her, lying unconscious on the ground. "Oh no," he moaned, kneeling beside her. "I knew it…that attack did hit you, didn't it?"

Somehow, Yolei and Cody managed to follow them, and Hawkmon and Armadillomon with them. They appeared and knelt down too. "This doesn't look good," Hawkmon commented, wincing.

Takuya glared at the bird to shut up. Then, gently, he turned Zoe onto her back to take a look at her, carefully brushing dirt and pebbles out of the cuts and gashes on her face, neck and arms. "She's breathing," he said, sighing with relief. "Good."

"What…happened?" Yolei breathed, her eyes filling with tears. "You're both so…so…"

"Bloody?" Cody asked, grimacing.

Takuya gave a tired shrug. "We're fighting. What do you expect? Zoe and I were fighting next to each other, and Lucemon swiped us with one of his blasting attacks. I can't remember what it's called. I tried to push her out of the way but…I guess I didn't."

"Push her out of the way so you could take all the damage?" Yolei asked, angry for some reason.

Takuya gave her a weird look. "Well yeah? I can take more than she can." He glanced down at himself, as if to point out that his battle wounds were almost triple hers. And to point out that between the two of them, he was the one awake and walking around. Then he looked back up. "I guess I'm just hard-headed or something. Come on, we've got to regroup with everyone." Sighing, he bent over and slipped his arms underneath Zoe, then stood and lifted her with him. "I need to find Kouji."

"We'll come with you," Cody nodded. "As soon as this dust clears, I'm sure that the fighting will continue. You'll need all the help you can get, I think."

Takuya nodded, and then simply heading out in a random direction, decided to see if he could find Kouji. "So tell me about yourselves," he said, glancing over his shoulder. "You guys have partners, huh? How does that work?"

"We can make our digimon evolve," Yolei answered. "Sometimes to forms that aren't physically possible without us. And when we believe in them, we give them strength." Hawkmon nodded, beside her.

"So you don't do any fighting?" Takuya asked, shaking his head. "I guess that's different. Or maybe it's how it's supposed to be. I don't know. Anyway, my partner, so to speak, is the Legendary Warrior Agunimon. And he can kick butt just fine without me, but he says he's stronger when I digivolve into him. So his kick-buttness, plus my stupidity and hard-headedness, equals a better fighting force!" he grinned. "It's true!"

Cody blinked, then glanced at Yolei. "He and Davis would get along."

Yolei rolled her eyes.

"Oh!" Takuya blurted. He paused, then ran forward. "I sense Kouji! Come on!" and with that, he took off running, ignoring the weird looks he got when he said "sensed". The other two had to hurry to catch up before they were left behind in the billowing clouds of thick dust. They all arrived at the foot of a cliff, behind some rubble, where Kouji was sitting with his back against the cliff and his head hanging down. Takuya skidded to a stop and placed Zoe gently on the ground. "Kouji!" He said loudly.

Kouji's head snapped up, and he grimaced. "Of course," he mumbled. "I wondered which of the three would happen first. I don't know why I'm surprised it was you."

"What are you saying?" Takuya snapped. "Never mind it's not important. Kouji there's two digidestined here and their partners to help us."

"I know, I met them," Kouji complained, letting his head lean back against the stone wall behind him.

"Huh?" Takuya frowned. "How could you have met them when they're with me?" As he was speaking, two more strangers walked up, both of them boys. "Oh…" he said, then turned back to Kouji. "Never mind, there's four of them. Come on, get up."

"Shut up. I'm resting."

"We don't have time to rest!" Takuya argued, waving his arms dramatically. "We need to plan our next series of attacks! I'm thinking these new guys should make their partners evolve into ultimates, and then combine their attacks with ours while we…"

"Takuya! Stop it!" Kouji shouted. "You're splattering blood all over my face!" He stood up reluctantly, then kicked Takuya to the ground.

Takuya made a little "oof!" sound, and then got back up. He ignored the weird looks the four newcomers were given him. "Anyway," he said, continuing where he left off, seeing as they didn't have time to argue right now, "They could combine their attacks with ours while someone can sneak into the castle and…"

Kouji sighed, pulled off his bandana, and stuffed it into Takuya's mouth to shut him up. During the brief pause, he turned to Yolei and Cody. "Who are you?" he demanded.

"I'm…" Yolei tried to speak, then blushed and laughed awkwardly. "Uh…Y-Y-Yolei….And you must be….Kouji…" The boy with the bob of black hair that Takuya hadn't met stepped up next to her with a frown. She blushed further, and Takuya wondered if she thought Kouji was good looking. Probably. The guy must be her boyfriend or something, feeling jealous.

Cody was more matter-of-fact. "I'm Cody. This is Davis and Ken, since you don't know yet," he said to Takuya.

Takuya quickly pulled the bandana out of his mouth and tossed it at Kouji's face. "Ew gross, man! It has your blood on it!"

"Shut up, Takuya. Now does anyone have a freakin' band aid or something I can use?" Kouji snapped. He growled in frustration when his fractal code appeared around him, as if to spite him. "GO AWAY!" he yelled.

Takuya sighed sympathetically. "That keeps happening to me too," he said, then glanced over at Zoe. Hers was circling quickly, as if to signify she was down for the count. "Oh, and Zoe's out cold. I don't know where Kouichi, JP or Tommy are."

"Well I'm here," came Kouichi's voice from the clouds of dust. And beside him walked two older strangers, one guy and one girl. Kouichi smiled grimly, holding a hand over one of his eyes. "And these two found me. They say their names are Sora and Joe, and they're digidestineds." And as if to confirm that, two more rookie digimon walked along beside them.

Kouji ran at Kouichi so fast you could miss it if you blinked. "What's wrong with your eye?" he demanded, grabbing his twin by the shoulders.

Kouichi chuckled gently. "Kouji I'm fine," he said. "It just hurts, that's all…"

Takuya narrowed his eyes. "Then why is there blood dripping down beneath your hand, man? Gross!" Not that he was one to talk. He was covered in slices and burns and gashes too.

Kouichi grimaced again. "Well….I wasn't fast enough…and the blade…"

Kouji quickly tied his bandana around his brother's head, covering the eye tightly, and then turned burning eyes upon the strangers. "We need some medical help. NOW."

Joe waved his arms frantically. "I can help!" he said. "I have medical knowledge! Well…more like first aid, but…" Kouji glared him into silence. "Okay I'll just…get to work…"

Takuya sighed and shook his head, turning to the rest of them. "The rest of us are going to prep for the fight," he said, making a fist and ignoring the pain every single movement caused. "Make your partners evolve into ultimates, and when the dust clouds calm down, we'll start attacking in an assembly-line type of thing, each taking turns to shower him with attacks. Meanwhile, someone is going to sneak into Seraphimon's castle—that's the place he's guarding—and pull the giant sword out of Seraphimon's chest. He's using that sword to give himself never-ending energy, and it's stolen from the three Celestial Digimon."

"I'm…confused," Davis said slowly, as if he didn't want to interrupt, but couldn't stop himself from doing it. "What…"

Takuya cut him short. "There's no time to explain anything!" he yelled, waving his arms. Then stopped and winced as his fractal code appeared from the effort. "Man I could sure use an energy boost," he sighed. "Never mind. Look, if we can take away his never-ending energy source, we can interrupt his hold on the real world!"

"He already has a hold on the real world," Ken murmured, eyes widening. "That's right! We need to get that sword! How do we find it?"

"It's hard to miss," Takuya shrugged, trying to push his fractal code back and finding it hard when his hand went right through it. "It's a really giant sword in a big digimon's chest, in the middle of the largest room in the castle."

"And how do we pull it out?" Yolei asked, rolling her eyes. "We're just teenagers."

"I dunno. I haven't gotten any further than just entering the room. Every time, he figures out what I'm doing and sends me flying. And flying's only fun while you're in the air," he sighed. "Landing isn't very fun."

The strangers started at him, wearing freaked out or shocked faces, and then glanced hesitantly at each other. "Who's going to be the one to try and pull out the sword?" Ken asked slowly.

Davis puffed up his chest. "I'll go," he said quickly. "I'm not afraid. What happens after we pull out the sword?"

Takuya's face fell serious, and he stared at the ground. "He gets angry," he said quietly. After a moment, he looked back up. "That's when Kouji and I will start fighting him again. We're the strongest, and we can distract him while you guys regroup and make your digimon the highest stage you can get em. Then we'll fight to the death!" He finally succeeded in sucking in his fractal code, and beamed proudly.

Yolei gasped and covered her mouth, while the boys nodded grimly. Sora sighed dramatically. "We're not going to die you guys. There's still Tai, Matt, and TK, remember? And Izzy is back at the hospital helping with his computer. Not to mention Kari and Mimi, who will both be over here as soon as they can get out of the hospital. We've got greater numbers, greater will, and idiots like Tai who can do stupid things to make us win."

Davis blinked, then glanced at Ken. "That's like what you said about me," he grinned. "Haha, but she's right, Tai's better at it."

"That's cause Tai is smarter than you."

"Hey! I…"

Takuya raised up a hand, his face draining of color, and silence filled the battleground. "He stopped laughing," Takuya whispered.

Ken shivered involuntarily, bending down to pick Wormmon up for a final tight hug. "Then that means…" he mouthed.

Takuya turned, glaring upward as the dust parted to reveal the sky. "The eye of the hurricane has passed," he growled. He didn't care that it sounded more animal than human, he'd been fighting so long.

Kouji stepped up beside him. "Let's wipe that smile off his face," he agreed.

A quick shared grin and an adrenaline rush later, Takuya and Kouji changed into their Fusions.

.

**Focus**: Koushiro Izumi (Izzy)

.

Izzy glanced at the paper in his hands, reading the quickly scrawled note. _Lucemon can read my mind,_ it said, _don't ask me how, but he can. Don't listen to anything I say, only what I write. Okay? _He lifted his head and sighed, wondering why he was surprised. "What's wrong, Tai?" he asked, as though he didn't already know.

Tai made a face to show his frustrations. "I'm going to be staying with Kari," he said firmly, and if Izzy hadn't read the note, he would have believed it. "She's still weak and freaked out. Besides, the others will do just fine without me."

"Are you sure?" Izzy asked, bored. What was the real plan? And why wasn't Tai writing it down already?" He shoved the piece of paper back in Tai's hand.

"Yes. I can't leave her," Tai said, quickly grabbing it and starting to write something. "She needs me." His face paled for a second, and a terrified expression flickered on his face for just a moment. Was Lucemon talking to him in his mind? Creepy.

"Well, you're the boss…" Izzy said as Tai handed it back, reading it. _Matt, TK, and I are going to go to the Digital World. You three will have to be okay without us. Lucemon said "Not even you can stop me" to me, which means I need to be there. _

Izzy' eyebrows raised up quickly. Now that was surprising.

"You okay, Izzy?" Tai asked. "You kinda zoned out. You want me to let you rest?"

"Yeah," Izzy said, amused. Saying things to throw Lucemon off was kind of fun. "Sorry man, I'm just so tired…" He grinned and winked, watching his Mom trying to figure out their bizarre conversation.

"Well just rest," Tai ordered. "I'll check on you later." After a long moment of silence, he grabbed a sticky note from the hospital desk beside him, and scribbled down another quick note.

Izzy read it as soon as it was handed to him. _You monitor us and let us know how things are going. I want to leave now, and hopefully Lucemon will think I've fallen asleep. _

With a quick nod, Izzy brought his computer to his lap from its hiding position under his heated blankets. Then he got to work. After opening the portal to Davis' location, he nodded at Tai, Matt, and TK, who were all in the room, reading Tai's notes.

They held up their digivices, and with a flash of light, vanished into the Digital World.

.

_It has been a long time since I continued this. And I love this story! It's fun._

_Sorry about the…uh…blood, lol. It just seemed more exciting. But you knew that it'd get somewhat gory from the mention of disemboweling in the early chapters, right?_

_Anyway, reviews, comments, critiques, complaints, etc…all are welcome. Until next time, then!_

_Rika195_


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